At the library: A German in front of a German poster 😊 (She is even wearing a dress we bought in Germany . . . )
In der Bücherei: Eine Deutsche vor einem deutschen Poster 😊 (Sie trägt sogar ein Kleid, das wir in Deutschland gekauft haben.)
Heute war es ziemlich heiß. Das Autothermometer zeigte 31 Grad an, als ich zur Bücherei gefahren bin, um Bücher abzuholen.
This morning, Miriam had to compare herself to some "animal" she could find quickly. She chose some kind of bug. It was a fun exercise and is part of Animal Survival, which we are using as a supplement.
Heute morgen mußte Miriam sich mit einem "Tier" vergleichen, das sie schnell finden konnte. Sie hat sich ein Insekt ausgesucht. Es war eine lustige Aufgabe und stammt aus einer Sammlung von Arbeitsblättern über Überlebensstrategien von Tieren.
In the afternoon, Flora completed a Paul Klee Puzzle as part of our art appreciation time. Paul Klee is one of the artists we are studying this year. After all, all children have visited the Paul Klee Center in Switzerland!
Am Nachmittag hat Flora ein Paul Klee Puzzle als Teil unserer Kunstgeschichtszeit gemacht. Paul Klee ist einer der Künstler, die wir dieses Jahr näher kennenlernen. Die Kinder waren ja auch schon alle im Paul Klee Zentrum!
And here she is practicing her German plural endings.
Und hier übt sie deutsche Pluralendungen.
I find it hard to write equally about all three girls right now. The older ones have more independent work than Flora does, but I do spend one-on-one time with each of the girls. Most of it is discussion of literature or history or, right now, watching the animal section of Biology 101 with Miriam.
Ich finde es im Moment schwierig, über alle drei Mädchen zu schreiben. Die älteren beiden machen mehr Dinge zusammen oder unabhängig von mir, aber ich nehme mir jeden Tag Zeit, auch mit ihnen zu lernen. Meistens reden wir über Literatur/Geschichte oder, wie es im Moment bei Miriam passiert, sehen wir eine Dokumentarsendung zusammen. Bei Miriam geht es im Moment in Biologie um Tiere.
Flora's dress from Germany is very pretty, and Miriam's experiment does sound like fun! It was also sweet to visit memory lane and read about the Paul Klee museum in 2013 again :)
ReplyDeleteI need to spend time on German plural endings . . ha ha!
Unfortunately, the dress is getting too small. I was a great buy. Yes, we had such a wonderful time in Switzerland! Maybe when Flora is done, you can take a turn . . . Am actually quite pleased how well she can do these exercises now. A year ago, she could not do this on her own, but needed a lot of help. Now she rarely asks for help. I am always so worried about her learning problems and delay in many subjects, but if you look at her overall development she has done very well. We have started with "test prep" today. We will work through a test preparation booklet several times a week because after this school year, she will have to do her first PASS test. I hope that a steady dose of test questions will make it easier for her when the times comes.
DeleteYou do an amazing job! I can understand your worries which will be all the more marked having seen how the others progressed. Will Flora be given extra time to answer the questions? Sending hugs xx
DeleteThe test we will use is untimed, so she will have lots of time. She has to pass a certain level, which I think she will manage to do with lots of steady practice. The test will first determine her level and then I will receive the appropriate test forms for that level. However, after grade 8, she will have to switch to a different and timed test. If she does not pass it, she might not be able to continue with homeschooling. However, since she has a legitimate disability, I could register her for one and go a different path for her educational journey (there is different paperwork for disabled children and different ways to fulfill requirements). I would rather not do it that way, though, because it will be such a hassle and very complicated and not good for her self-esteem (I know families who are doing this because they have severely handicapped children). We will see how it goes. I could also have her repeat a grade again. I know some families who do that with some of their children, but you cannot do this endlessly.
DeleteYes, these are difficult choices. I can understand your concern. I do agree with San that you are doing a wonderful job with helping your children navigate their way through school and college work, and I think Flora will be stronger for knowing how to work with timed exams, etc. Chanda is working with a free test prep for math right now, and is enjoying the teacher's attention via Zoom. She found the class through the Brooklyn Public Library. In regard to the dress .. ah! Our children just keep growing! :)
ReplyDeleteI do hope it will all work out. Thanks for your encouraging words. Navigating tests and higher grades is sometimes hard and very labor-intensive, including college work. That is great that you found a free class at your library. I remember they offered classes like that at the LA library branches. Is she preparing for the SAT? I always get sad when I have to put away another one of those dresses I loved so much.
DeleteYes, she would like to be prepared for the SAT.
DeleteAren't we funny how we attach such emotion to our children's clothes (and for me, dolls also); they become symbolic of the entire growing process, and then we're so sad when folding them away. I suppose it's healthy in that it helps us say good-bye to such special times. Life is so bittersweet.
I wish her good luck with the preparation and the test. We have to work on Miriam's math skills as well to get her ready, but fist she needs to finish Saxon Algebra 2. I am planning to use the prep course from MathHelp for her. We tried Khan, but she did not like it. We do have a few books we also use, but I think the biggest problem is not having finished the Algebra 2 book.
DeleteYes, when I see pictures of a certain piece of clothing on a child, a whole host of memories comes flooding back. I am not a very materialistic person, but I put a lot of thought and love into picking out pretty outfits when they were little. I remember how hard it was to give away all the baby clothes a few years ago, but we simply ran out of space. Maybe also because you realize that you yourself are getting older it is hard to let go. But it is good for us, you are right. After all, you cannot take those clothes with you when you die.