September: here are a few things that happened.
1. Kids learned how to do virtual public school very successfully. Nut Brown in particular has surprised Mr. Brown and I with how he dominates discussions in his classes. He assumes that he should be in charge when there's group work, and has even made a friend to play D&D with. Rose Pink is doing well in her classes as well. She's excited to go back to in-person for her theatre tech class every other day at some point in the next couple of weeks.
Bobo is also doing really well. Funny story about him: he just had to switch teachers because of the in-person kids starting back at school. The new teacher told the class that she expected them to read five books per week. Bobo and I were pondering this, and I was trying to figure out how on earth she could possibly think this was realistic. Bobo currently reads chapter books that are 150-200 pages long, and he finishes one every few days. (Keeping him in books is a challenge.) But five of those per week seems an extraordinary requirement. Eventually I said to Bobo, "I think she's expecting you to read picture books." He turned to me with a look of incredulity and said, "But that would be stupid!" He was completely floored by the idea of picture books as a reading expectation.
Bobo is also way ahead of the class in math. He is comfortable with two-digit multiplication and his class is doing pre-multiplication theory. I guess we will have to figure out if there are gifted classes or something along those lines that might hold his interest.
The first few weeks of school were pretty exhausting for all of us, so we borrowed an idea from Bobo's teacher and instituted "Fri-yay" celebrations. We don't have dessert the rest of the week and then have something fabulous on Friday or Saturday evening - ice cream sundaes, pound cake, lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies... something fun and sweet to celebrate finishing the week. Mr. Brown and I expected this to be exhausting for the kids but we did not expect how tiring it has turned out to be for us as well.
2. Dyed hair. I was waiting to post pictures for this but it's apparently never going to happen so I'm just going to go ahead and share. A few weeks ago, we had a 'dye Saturday' and four of us dyed our hair. Rose Pink dyed her hair dark purple. It was very beautiful. When it started washing out it faded in a very nice way too and gave her some nice two-tone looks for awhile as well. She had fun messing with makeup to go with it as well. A friend gave me some colored conditioner - bright pink - that was okay to use for Rosebud, so she got her heart's desire and had pink hair for a few weeks. Since it's just highly colored conditioner, I was comfortable putting it in her hair, letting it sit and then rinsing it out in the shower with her eyes squeezed tight shut. It worked beautifully and she was so happy to have pink hair! Mr. Brown decided to dye his hair auburn. He looks much younger and very handsome! I dyed my hair pink again but this time it didn't show nearly as well. The boys opted for haircuts only, no dye.
3. Rose Pink has some body art markers and she has been having a lot of fun drawing on herself in different colors. She draws mysterious symbols, and lately lots of flowers. Wish I had photos of these as well to share.
4. Bobo had to give a 'book talk' in school - it was called a book report when I was a kid. I helped him write it and practice it, and then, since I'm working from home, I got to listen to him give it from the other room when it was his turn. He did a great job! I was so proud of him! He came bouncing in afterwards, super happy and excited at how well he did. Being a bookworm, he also wrote down the titles of some of the other books that kids read, and asked me to look them up.
5. Nut Brown is taking debate as an eighth grader and was invited to attend the high school debate team practices on Thursday mornings. I think debate suits him, and he is doing well with it. He is also really liking his art class.
6. Rosebud worked all summer with Rose Pink to learn her letters and the sounds they make because she really wants to learn to read. She's still struggling with putting the sounds together to make the letters into a word. But the other day she brought me a piece of paper that she had written 'cat' on and then she read it to me - told me that she had written down 'cat'. I love watching her grow.
7. The heat finally broke and we have had nice weather (high eighties) for the last week or so. I planted my fall garden (peas, cabbage, cold weather crops) which is a first for me. I'm still picking peppers, and I actually have four cantaloupes ripening on the vine at the moment. Gardening is always full of surprises. I also planted garlic for the first time. We'll see what happens!
8. We have a new Sunday morning activity - long walks. We get up early and go to a nearby trail and walk several miles before lunch. Mr. Brown packs snacks to keep people happy and we just keep moving and looking and enjoying the outing. It's so nice to be outdoors in the sunshine and walking. Rosebud rides her balance bike and we all get along very well. This was Mr. Brown's idea. He has always been a good walker and I am glad that he is getting us all out of the house and moving.
