Good Energy

There is news about dance and school and freshly carved apple crone dolls, but I will tuck it away for another time.

Instead I'll ask you to send some good energy across the miles. 

I haven't blogged about it really, but age or imbalanced body ecology or actions from a past life appear to be catching up with me. It's been a slow, painful summer and a bit surrealistic this last month especially.

Thursday morning I am off to the hospital for a diagnostic laparoscopy. That part I know. My surgeon will fix whatever she finds. That part I don't know.

So please put some good energy out into the Universe... that my surgeon's hands stay steady and her mind focused. That her barista does not not confuse the decaf with the espresso. That Nurse Ratched is enjoying her day off, not working O.T.

Tomorrow my girl and I are wrapping up summer work and heading out for some lunch and crafting before loading up the house with groceries, finishing laundry for the week and tidying up.

When I was a teen my Mom had major surgery. After six hours they wheeled her out of the O.R. She was pale and drugged. With great effort she opened her eyes until they were just slits and looked at us kids. There was a pregnant pause and then she said:

"You need to go eat." 

Twenty-five years later, freezer stocked to the gills, I totally get it.

Fruit Under The Microscope

I'm not sure how long this will stay up, so hurry over and have a look. Amazing!

Inventory, Inspiration & Intention Unit Post: The Best of Intentions...

The Shakespeare unit seemed to flow along so effortlessly – well, except for that theater model – that I was having grandiose visions of what might happen next.

Silly me, I had hardly taken into account the kind of environment Tess was coming from and the jump I was asking her to make. A 180˚ shift if there ever was one! Every assignment last year started and ended with a rubric. Even in writing and art it was about having X number of pronouns in a paper or 5 thick lines and 15 thin ones. Going from that kind of checklist mentality to reaching deep inside and pulling out hopes and dreams… that’s a big switch. One I didn’t think about until there were frustrations.

No problem, we’re at home. When learning the material from Plan A doesn’t work, we can move on to Plan B. I’ve tucked away the rest of these lessons and will pull them out later when the time feels right.

Still, seeds were planted about the power of the ancient laws of attraction and we made our vision boards. I loved making mine and I loved seeing Tess’s. It is so her and a great representation of where she is in her life right now. Her passions are all there: dance, art, animals, respect for the earth, fashion, India and last, but not least… polka dots.

Visions at 12

I started making my board as something to do with Tess but soon became consumed with the process. Within hours of brushing on the last coat of Modge Podge things started happening and since then, they’ve kept on coming! I’ve done seasonal meditative planting and harvesting with great results for years, but nothing this fast.

Visions at 41

We also cut and pinned all the fabrics needed for our next Goods4Girls shipment. It's G4G week over at Crunchy Chicken. Read all about it and get inspired!

Tess moved ahead to daily math warm-ups and began analyzing fiction using Reading Strands – something we’ll continue to do throughout the year. The focus now is character analysis using The Cricket in Times Square as a read aloud. Written work is an illustrated presentation board analyzing characters from The House At Pooh Corner. And she is in the thick of word intelligence: decoding meaning through Latin and Greek roots and context (a continuation of the University of Akron's reading camp this summer).

Given our propensity to wander, I’m keeping curriculum for the rest of the year simple. I’ll be using the materials listed in the sidebar on a regular basis but without regard to a timetable. If Tess finishes early she can move on to other materials I've chosen. If not, she can finish over the summer. In between I have a few seasonal units planned for October, December and April.

I think we’ll do something special on Wednesday to celebrate the Fall break, which starts on Thursday. Around the middle of September it will be time to start schooling in earnest.

The Big Do-Over

Our science curriculum is scheduled to arrive today.

Finding the right fit for science wasn't happening for the longest time. I browsed and bookmarked but nothing seemed quite right. So I decided the best thing to do was to go right to the source and ask Tess what she wanted to do. We went to lunch. Lunching always seems to make these things easier for some reason.

I asked her, where exactly are you in science? Tell me what you covered last year.

I really hated science last year, Mom.

Well, yes. Even though I was only in on the homework side of it, I do seem to remember wondering if I was helping with homework or stuck in some little known circle of Dante's hell at times.

The big shakedown? Science is one giant do-over. Besides the difference between igneous and sedimentary rocks, the kiddo took away nothing from science class last year. I had my mama radar on. This was not a con job, it was the real deal.

There was a lot of observing and spending time in nature in the lower Waldorf grades but nothing formal until botany in fifth grade, which we did at home. Big sigh of relief, she still remembers that material.

The whole thing was a bit emotional for me. She always made merit roll! Her teacher said everything was fine! I'm so glad she feels comfortable enough to tell me! Thank goodness we are homeschooling! I really, really hate No Child Left Behind!

Poor Jeff. I needed to have a little tantrum to let it all out.

Our conversation made my curriculum choice much easier. Real Science 4 Kids is very solid and straightforward. Perfect for a do-over.

Soft And Sweet And So Much Fun

August lessons continue. As so many bloggers post about first days of school, we are winding down for a two week break in September.

Lady Ophelia comes to read with us each morning. She is enjoying A Cricket in Times Square. Especially the parts about Harry Cat. We sit underneath the fisherman's afghan and she rolls across from lap to lap, chasing the bookmark or a trailing hand.



She's growing healthier and stronger, and chubbier, too! I like to rub her tiny kitty belly. She gets so excited she doesn't know what to do with herself.



If I stroke her paws gently she settles right down and melts like butter. Don't you love it when their little feet curl up like this?



After another hard day at play, it's time for a big yawn and a snooze. The perfect way to welcome early evening for beast or man.