Settling in to Home Learning

4/6

Another successful day of Home Learning in the books. The kids are now requesting the checklist the night before so they can get started bright and early. Love that! Reed had his first Zoom with his teacher and classmates - it was fun to watch his face light up as he participated in class and shared about what he’s been doing. Project-learning has returned: Edison is researching the HMS Hood and Charlotte is learning about the Channel Islands. Edison found a video, I think through our district’s online video learning list, on how to make your own bow (as in bow and arrow) and has been prototyping those. Reed is reading a LOT and is so much better than I knew! We are enjoying sunny, early spring days this week. The kids were a huge help outdoors - we’ve decided to go all out and make this house as nice as we can - so today it was gutters, pruning, raking, mowing, and weeding. The funny thing is that even after all that - there is still so much I want to do. And of course I noticed about 20 new things to add to the list. My district Race & Equity Teammates and I reviewed and gave feedback on all the content going out to families in the second edition of the paper packet. That was really rewarding to know we are directly impacting changes there. Edison found a version of Hamilton the Musical on YouTube and the kids started watching that - they know all the songs - it is quite impressive. I now have an idea for their next project based learning topic - the American Revolution!

4/7

The kids breezed through learning tasks quickly today. They helped me move a bunch of scrap wood to the curb that someone from Craigslist hauled away - trying to clean up this house and its yard and make it really nice. Reed donated his old bike to a child that is being adopted by a co-worker of mine. He was really great about it and I think happy to know that it would be appreciated by another child who needed it. We had a bunch of errands to do today, and started with gas ($2.35/gallon - flashback to 2006!). We then donned our masks per CDC guidelines and went to Costco. We had to wait in line before entering because they were limiting customers in the store. It wasn’t too bad (maybe 10 minutes) and once inside it was super chill and we took our time. We definitely stocked up though - don’t want to have to go back anytime soon. They had toilet paper! Yay!!! Something that has been out of stock for three weeks! We tried to stop at Home Depot, but their line outside was too long and we were all hungry for lunch. After lunch, we each talked about what was important to us for the rest of the day. E = going to hardware store, then making a bow and arrows, C= making decorations for mom’s birthday and baking a cake, R = playing prodigy and riding bikes, J = hardware store, house projects, exercise. So the boys and I hit up the hardware store at the Town Center and found most of what we needed while Charlotte worked on birthday decorations. Back at home the kids started engineering bows and arrows out of dowels and electrical tape - whitling the tips, using a hacksaw, prototyping different designs, etc. I was glad I had cleared the work bench for them and they enjoyed working on this project in the garage, keeping me updated about their progress while I washed the exterior of the house and every window as well as scrubbed the breezeway concrete. They did really incredible work! After a run, two zoom calls, dinner, a walk after dinner, etc. we called it a night. It was a fulfilling day to see the kids really engage with engineering and product testing.

4/8

Today was my birthday! Charlotte made special decorations for the occasion and the kids worked together to bake and frost a delicious chocolate birthday cake for me. We had a family Zoom call in the late afternoon, our first. It was so great checking in with everyone and finding out how each of us is making it through the pandemic - we are all healthy and that is great news. I had my first leadership class meeting via zoom today and I enjoyed hearing from my students and seeing them connect to one another. Reed’s STEM project was to try and compare different kinds of invisible ink (lemon juice, milk, vinegar, and baking soda). Edison and Charlotte helped out by weeding the yard! The kids and I did a quick walking trip over to the hardware store to get materials needed to create bows with PVC. After lunch, I had more Zoom meetings (Equity Leads - more work on our home learning materials being delivered to families - and the ASB Budget). The kids worked hard in the garage crafting the bows. It was a lot of time in meetings. My mom came by to help in the yard and bring some flowers over (following social distancing of course), and I mostly missed her visit which was disappointing. After all that time on the computer, it was so nice to have the day end with the kids, a great splurge for dinner (take out Thai) and yummy birthday cake with presents to cap it all off. Charlotte had made a pretty charm, Edison gave me a giant, 5’ bow that was really well made, and Reed made me a book of pictures. 

4/9

Edison and Charlotte both had their first class meeting zooms this morning. I loved watching them connect back with their teachers and peers. I was allowed back into my school for 20 minutes to grab necessary materials - kind of surreal to think I won’t be back until August if not later. We did our work and home learning in the morning and were able to head to do a 3-mile hike at Carkeek Park in the afternoon. It was needed after spending much of the previous day on the screen. Walking and relaxing on the beach in the sun felt amazing. We picked up Charlotte’s new bike on the way home. The kids are enjoying time learning more about music - Reed started writing down his favorite songs on the iPod. Charlotte is listing out all the songs from Hamilton. After dinner we went on a neighborhood walk. We finished up the night with the kids doing their final Lord of the Flies book club and watching more of the musical Hamilton.

4/10

Our new rhythm that we’ve found works is morning home learning followed by projects and exercise in the afternoon. To that end, after lunch we walked to the hardware store for more house project supplies. We hung up a bulletin board/white board in Charlotte’s room and a couple wire cables for Reed to display his artwork. We did a lot of pruning - both in the side yard so we can move the camper there, and in the front yard to clear up the sidewalk and open up the front porch more. I was on the ladder with a hand saw cutting 4” wide branches - I was very proud of my hard work and the yard is really coming along well!