Week 25 - A Most Successful Week

We've been cruising along this week with a few sniffles lingering for everyone in the house and for a kitty too. I particularly enjoyed our week break from co-op classes, then again I always enjoy the time away. Amber almost missed co-op classes this week - okay, she did miss them, but not quite like she normally does. We've just been so exhausted and weary since December.

Amber did take advantage of the break week by hanging out with a couple of friends to watch movies in her "spare room". I'm not really sure "Sanctum" is going to stick for that room name, and I kinda like "spare room" better (we could even pronounce it "spare oom"). Oddly, Amber coined the term when referencing the room in a conversation with an adult by saying "my spare room." Except it makes her sound rather snobbish when the room is just her old playroom turned into a teen haven.

Kitties! Yes, Biscotti is STILL separated but making progress with Rosetta. Milori likes his sister, but isn't sure about Biscotti.

One day this week was spent out at lunch with friends, then movie watching at our house before the severe weather hit a few hours later. Thankfully our direct area was spared most of the weather except some small hail and wind. I have a very bad feeling about the severe weather season this year.

Even though I let Amber take a day away from school when she normally would be at co-op, we had a fantastic school week. When we first started the weekly appointments at Children's Hospital, I didn't expect it to impact our school time quite so much. All of the driving and the actual work of the appointments drain both Amber and me to where we lose the majority of any day we go. I cannot express how happy I am now that the majority of her appointments will all be on the same day and not nearly as frequent. We still have a slightly goofy March schedule to live through before April is on a permanent every-other week rotation, but still we are already much happier with this lighter schedule.

School Happenings:

Greek is Amber's new favorite subject, behind creative writing, obviously.  I'm not even slightly joking about this. When the girl will go ahead and start her next day's lesson in Greek at 5:00pm because she just didn't get to it, you know she enjoys the subject. Let's hope it keeps going like this.

Greek and more Greek. She's really enjoying this.

History is going so much better now that I've basically done away with Tapestry of Grace. Amber is finishing up her Ancient Greece study and then we plan to go back to some of the readings from Tapestry of Grace. The remainder of her history assignments will be done in an entirely un-Tapestry way. Some where along the way, although Amber likes her discussion time with me, she stopped liking Tapestry of Grace. Honestly, it's not even a matter of liking though; the rhetoric level of TOG simply isn't working for Amber at all. She loves history when it's done her way and hates it when it's analyzed to death. What Amber truly liked about the Socratic discussions from TOG was talking over the topics with me. Well, that we can do without the formal Socratic discussions.

For now we have modified TOG to fit Amber's needs and will use a simpler curriculum next year. Who knows, by 11th grade we may be back to TOG. Amber's abilities and needs change each year and we strive to meet her where she is. And thanks to occupational therapy for helping me to understand the methods that best suit Amber.

Practical Arts:
We've found a less haphazard way for Amber to earn part of her practical arts credit and it's actually something she needs to learn! We were selected this week for a review of CompuScholar's Digital Saavy online course as part of the Homeschool Review Crew, and Amber has even already completed three lessons. I know, I know - her dad and I have computer science degrees yet I'm putting my child into an online computer skills course. The irony that I'm teaching Amber a language I do not know (Greek), yet outsourcing her computer lessons has not been missed by any of us.

Have I mentioned before how much Amber does not want anything to do with computer programming? Well, she doesn't. At All. Nothing. And she's vocal about it. And she says I go into too much detail for everything computer related. She might not be wrong - I'm not saying she's right either. :)

Amber is computer literate enough to play games, type up papers, and check her email. However she's actually more comfortable with her iPad than with any of our computers. This is the girl who has had her own dedicated computer since she was 18 months old. That's not even an exaggeration, although it was a hand-me-down computer. Still, she's not proficient at file manipulation and can't handle when anything happens out of the ordinary. However, she doesn't want to take instruction from her comp sci parents on computer usage; believe me, we have tried. Hopefully this online class will teach her the needed skills to be an independent computer user or at least a more confident one who can follow simple instructions from her parents.

Even more lessons! Plus a rough start to a day. That was her resting heart rate, after a day when she had an EXTREMELY low HR all day. She's evened out since then.

Forensic Science:

And for those of you who have been curious about our forensic science course, I wrote a post this week detailed the major resources used in the class. 

Recommendations Wanted

I might be opening a can of worms here, but I'm looking for a recommendation for a new sewing machine. Amber and I have decided to make the weighted blankets our ongoing service project after doing the initial group of 11 with her friends last year. The hospital really needs these donations and we have the means to continue. However, my main sewing machine is not really up to doing this kind of work regularly. It is a really great beginner machine that I got to replace an older Singer that wasn't computerized and wasn't working all that well. But I will not have that sewing machine much longer if I continue to do the weight blankets with it.

I would like a new sewing machine that is better able to handle weighted blankets and quilts. We have a couple of quilt projects planned too, so basically I need a quilting machine. I'd like it to be computerized and have a few bells and whistles along with a wide table option.

Any thoughts?


Happy Weekend!

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