Student Of The Week

This is our Student of the Week.  Tomorrow she will complete the fourth grade.  

She has made tremendous academic and personal progress this school year.  She has acquired knowledge that I am not sure would have even been presented to her had she remained in the public school system along with skills that wouldn't have been fostered or valued there.  She has overcome many anxieties and challenges that she had developed in response to traditional instruction and thereby she's broken down barriers to her own success.

She has also, through home schooling, shown her capacity for learning targeted new material fairly speedily which prompted a re-assessment of her needs/diagnoses and, in the end, led to greater opportunities for the coming (home) school year.  We're immensely proud of her hard work and accomplishments over the last ten months and looking forward to more growth in 21/22.

"That's called differentiated instruction.  That's called personalized learning.  That's called special education law.  That's called effective teaching." - from Lost at School by Ross W. Greene

Sixth Grade Service Project

You may remember Ella's fourth grade service project in 2018 and last year she was part of a social justice class at school that raised several hundred dollars to help combat human trafficking.

This year, we hadn't thought about a service project yet until we were working on a craft for fun and it occurred to us that we could have a little sale of Ella's creations to support Dream House Autism Therapy Center in Armenia.  The idea quickly grew into a plan.

1) Ella emailed her art teacher at school to ask if classmates would be allowed to help Ella decorate necklaces in the art room using the myriad of supplies there.  The answer was a resounding yes.

2) Ella emailed the school leadership to ask if she would be allowed to set up a sale on school grounds one day over lunch to hold her fundraiser.  She got another yes.

3) Ella and I cut out a lot of amulets from air-dry clay which her friends in art class helped her decorate in early April.  Later we added the necklaces and price tags.

4) Ella and her group of friends from school held the sale and raised $74 for Dream House.  Through some additional sales Ella made on her own, another $19 were raised.  Finally she received a $20 donation.

5) We spoke with the director of Dream House to find out what needs there are at the center at this time.  She asked for wobble cushions/wiggle seats, so we got multiple of those and then added a balance board, an aqua doodle mat, a floor piano mat, and two really big floor games because we know the OT and PT at Dream House like to be very active with the kids one on one and in small group settings.  We can't wait to see those items in use, but unfortunately, they probably won't arrive in Armenia until the fall as the next SOAR container isn't slated to ship for a couple of months.

Picture Of The Day

 Lunch... when your preteen is kind of a foodie and you've just been to the international market.

Date Afternoon

I don't remember when our last date was... certainly before the start of the pandemic.  Since March 2020, both Craig and I have been with our children every single day.  We were overdue for some alone time and now that one of our regular sitters is fully vaccinated, we could make it happen.

We started our beautiful spring afternoon with a 90 minute hike at the Nature Center.  We took a trail we hadn't been on before and made it down to a lovely little river bank.

From the Nature Center, we went to Jungle Jim's to buy a few things we like at home and pick out some dinner which we ate al fresco at another park.

Salads, feta, freshly baked baguette, and dessert.

This is a cheesecake filling 
wrapped into some kind or roasted almond and honey pastry.
So good.

Finally we drove to a third park where we spent some time quietly reading at dusk before we had to go home.

Meanwhile, our children were in the capable hands of Miss Claire who said she had a great five hours with them.

IAC 511 - 518

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 511 which was held on January 21, 2021:

1) US dossier from March 2017 matched with an identified waiting child

2) Spanish dossier from April 2019 matched with an identified waiting child

3) US dossier from October 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

4) US dossier from October 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

5) US dossier from October 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

6) US dossier from November 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

7) US dossier from November 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

8) US dossier from November 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

9) US dossier from November 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

10) US dossier from December 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

11) US dossier from December 2020 matched with an identified waiting child

12) US dossier from January 2021 matched with an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 512 which was held on January 28, 2021:

1) German dossier from July 2013 referred a female child age 2 years with features in health status

2) Spanish dossier from November 2013 referred a female child aged 7 years and 5 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from January 2015 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

4) Canadian dossier from February 2019 referred a male child aged 5 years with features in health status

5) Canadian dossier from December 2020 referred a male child aged 10 years and 2 months with features in health status

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 513 which was held on February 04, 2021:

1) French dossier from October 2013 referred a female child aged 2 years and 7 months with features in health status and a family history

2) US dossier from May 2014 referred a female child aged 2 years and 5 months with a family history

3) Italian dossier from November 2016 referred sisters aged 8 years and 10 months and 6 years and 11 months

4) US dossier from December 2016 referred a female child aged 1 years and 10 months with a family history

5) Belgian dossier from December 2016 referred a female child aged 7 years and 11 months with features in health status

6) French dossier from March 2017 referred a male child aged 4 years and 5 months with features in health status

7) US dossier from June 2017 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status

8) US dossier from November 2020 referred a female child aged 10 years and 2 months

9) US dossier from January 2021 matched with an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 514 which was held on February 11, 2021:

1) Spanish dossier from April 2014 referred a brother and sister aged 3 years and 8 months and 5 years an 3 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from January 2016 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with a family history

3) French dossier from April 2017 referred a male child aged 2 years and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

4) US dossier from June 2019 referred a male child aged 11 years and 6 months

5) US dossier from July 2019 referred sisters aged 11 years and 2 months and 13 years and 1 month with features in health status

6) US dossier from February 2021 referred a male child aged 3 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

7) US dossier from February 2021 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 515 which was held on February 18, 2021:

1) Spanish dossier from May 2013 referred a female child aged 3 years and 1 month

2) Austrian dossier from August 2017 referred a female child aged 1 year and 7 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from March 2018 referred a female child aged 1 year and 7 months with features in health status

4) US dossier from September 2020 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

5) US dossier from December 2020 referred a male child aged 4 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

6) US dossier from February 2021 referred an identified waiting child

7) US dossier from February 2021 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 516 which was held on March 11, 2021:

1) French dossier from June 2015 referred a male child aged 9 years and 8 months with features in health status

2) US dossier from May 2018 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from June 2019 referred a female child aged 10 years and 4 months

4) US dossier from February 2021 referred an identified waiting child

5) US dossier from March 2021 referred an identified waiting child

6) US dossier from March 2021 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 517 which was held on March 18, 2021:

1) Italian dossier from July 2014 referred a female child aged 7 years and 7 months with features in health status

2) French dossier from May 2018 referred a sister and brother aged 4 years and 10 months and 6 years and 6 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from December 2019 referred a female child aged 14 years and 1 month

4) US dossier from December 2020 referred a male child aged 3 years and 2 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from December 2020 referred a male child aged 4 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 518 which was held on March 25, 2021:

1) Italian dossier from August 2014 referred a female child aged 5 years and 8 months with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from December 2018 referred a male child aged 11 years and 6 months

3) Italian dossier from April 2019 referred sisters aged 10 years and 2 months and 7 years and 7 months

4) US dossier from May 2019 referred sisters aged 7 years and 5 months and 8 years and 10 months

5) German dossier from December 2019 referred a male child aged 4 years and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

6) Canadian dossier from July 2020 referred a brother and sister aged 13 years and 1 month and 10 years and 2 months

7) Canadian dossier from December 2020 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status

8) Canadian dossier from February 2021 referred a male child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

9) US dossier from March 2021 referred an identified waiting child

Seven Years

 It's been seven years since we met our girl in Gyumri.

Earth Day - May Day

On Earth Day, the fourth graders made wildflower seed bombs with local seeds that should do well in our area and attract native pollinators.

Step 1: Rip up scrap paper.

Step 2: Add water, soak, and blend until smooth.

Step 3: Mix in seeds and squeeze out excess liquid.

Step 4: Form into desired shapes and let dry.

Step 5: Package and give away.

On May Day, we left our seed bombs for little neighborhood friends.  Enjoy the blooms, Anya, Jessica, Marcel, Colin, Olive, Aria, and Reed.