Weekly Wrap Up 9/18/20 -- School work update for 11th grade

 MarioFan has been working at a full school load for a couple of weeks and we are slowly getting in the grove.  He has begun all three of his online classes.  Two are with Outschool, Economics and Chemistry, and the Spanish is a class with a private tutor.  

For British Literature we have read a few poems from William Blake and looked at 2 sonnets from Shakespeare.  Now we have started with our first novel of the year.  We are listening to the audiobook version while reading along.  Also using course hero website as it gives a great analysis of each chapter.  

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
 

We completed our first chapter test for Algebra 2.  MarioFan prefers to read the lesson in the book rather than listening to the lecturer on the computer.  So far he seems to be doing pretty well with this method.  Math is not my strong suit so he really has to figure this out on his own because I am of no use anymore.  I can only guide him to other sites to get additional knowledge if it is needed.

MarioFan has begun his online classes!  Workload is manageable for now.  But for the first time he is having more school work to do on the weekends in order to keep up with all the homework the online classes have and still do the stuff I require during the week!  At first he thought it was unfair that he had to work on the weekends until he spoke to his best friend and found out how much school work he was doing and how he was staying up til mid night to get all his online course work done!  His friend is doing online courses with a different company.

Electronics program finishing up lesson 3.

During the next 18 weeks he will be building a roving robot with a camera

built the chassis of the robot

Spanish class--for the first time MarioFan is using google classroom and trying to figure out this new system for managing his assignments.  

The first day and everyone trying to figure out the technology.  It will be a challenging class for MarioFan as the emphasis is speaking in Spanish, which is what we wanted, but where he is a bit weak

Economic Class has begun online we just completed the third class online and in addition we are watching Crash course videos to supplement.

He loves the dual screen as he can take notes and watch the lecturer

Chemistry class has begun online and in addition we are watching Crash course videos to help with class discussions.  

He completed his first  experiment measurement and density of aluminum foil. 

We are at a full school load.  We start at about 9 am and finish usually by 3-4 pm with an hour break for lunch in addition to several shorter breaks when needed.   So he does about 5-6 hours a day with about an 1-2 hours of homework over the weekend.   We are still working on organization and figuring out class technology and trying to keep on top various class emails.  All good skills to learn now before heading off to college:)

Weekly Wrap Up 9/11/20 -- odd and ends

 Firedrake appears to be doing fine at college, she is calling weekly and texting occasionally.   Seems to be getting along well with her roommate.  We have found out that the college has had about 12 cases of covid since the start of school:(. However Firedrake is wearing her mask and trying to social distant.  Which makes making friends rather difficult outside of her dorm room.  

She sent us this picture.  She found a ferret which was someone's emotional support animal at college.

Elvis the cat is coming around more often to visit with us.  He was very lonely the first few days Firedrake was  gone, spending all of his time in his cat tree ignoring everyone.  I guess he finally decided we were better than nothing:). 

Made my husband very happy.  Elvis still won't sit in my lap but he will let me pet him for a few minutes.  He much prefers my husband and son over me!  

Getting further along on my lamp.  It has been fitted to the mold and now I have to foil and solder it all.  Still a ways to go.

 I am working on my first glass sculpture piece using stain glass.  My husband wanted a Road Runner as it is his dream to retire to New Mexico, and he wanted something to display in his office.   I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try building a slightly different type of glass work.  It is not done as I plan to add a lizard and a few cacti to the wood.  I am still trying to figure out how to assemble it so it doesn't have any weak points.  It is a fun new challenge!

A few months ago our dog Luna had a back injury, we aren't sure how it happened but after consulting with the vet he said no more jumping on and off furniture and beds.  Easier said than done.  My husband went out and bought a rather expensive orthopedic dog bed and we have spent months trying to get her to use it.

Luna will have nothing to do with this bed.  We have tried putting her favorite blanket in the bed to encourage use and she will actually remove the blanket from the bed.  

The cat, Elvis, has decided that this is now his bed and the dog doesn't seem to mind

As much as we would like to follow the Vet's guidance for no jumping on and off furniture that is impossible to do!  Every time my back is turned,  Luna hops up on what she considers her chair in the living room.  Sigh, at least her back seems to be better and she is not in any more pain for now.  

However Luna will use her bed in the schoolroom and that is where she likes to be when I am upstairs.  I tried moving this bed down stairs but then she refuses to use it.  Stubborn dog!!

I found a low calorie recipe for cheese cake.  I was skeptical that it would be any good but it surprised me!  

I made my first ever cheesecake

It turned out perfectly, while it won't compete with the Cheesecake Factory it is a good substitute :). Even my husband liked it!

Yummy!  I added some low sugar cherry pie filling on top.  I am keeping this recipe for sure

On Labor day, my husband and I went on a drive through the country.  We haven't been out of the house except for weekly shopping trips in what seems like forever.  We are both starting to feel like this pandemic will never go away and since we live in a very RED part of the country there are plenty of idiots around challenging those of us who want to social distance and wear masks.  It was a nice day and a lovely day. 

On our drive we rescue three terrapins crossing the road!  We think they were 3 toed box turtles but not sure. 

While Firedrake is away at college I took a couple of days to sort/clean out her bedroom.  I now know where all my rulers, scissors,  spoons and apple charging cords have been disappearing too!!!!  I even found a plate, fork and knife under her desk!  I have a huge pile of papers on her bed for her to sort through when she returns home!  Firedrake is a bit of a pack rat never wanting to throw anything out....hmmm wonder where she got that from;) 

I had a colonoscopy this week, that wasn't very fun but I have reached that age!  Next week I will post what MarioFan is working on in school as we are now at full speed with all his online classes beginning!  

Weekly Wrap Up 9/4/20--School Room set up

 I know lots of people give up their school room once the kids reach high school.  I honestly like having one place that holds all the books and materials so I haven't been too willing to give up our "school room".  In addition my husband now works from home and he needs the living room to do his work and since he spends almost all day in meetings it is not conducive to work in the kitchen or living room like we used to do occasionally.  

Even though school has officially begun, I am still working on setting up a new room and system for MarioFan this year.  Since we are not attending Co-op and doing more online classes I needed additional desk space to do activities.  

Since MarioFan is doing Chemistry online he needed a space to complete science experiments.  So we found an old desk and set it up next to his computer so he can use this space for his experiments and we keep the chemical away from the computer.  I also hung up a shelf to help store chemical materials and books for the classes that he is doing online for easy access.

This is his electronic space and I tidied it up and added a shelf to help with storage.  I am still looking for some kind of system to store all the little parts.   Mario Fan will also be learning how to solder electronics this year.

This is his computer station, not much has changed except I tried to tidy it up a little bit and threw away a whole bunch of things from last year:). I also removed all the old posters.  The computer is close to his science desk so he will be able to see the instructor and participate in lab work, I hope:)

A wider view of the area in progress.  I finally threw away all the old posters the kids have made over the years.  I found a few US government posters and hung them up.  I think we are set for the start of his online classes.  

All of his texts books for the year, a few are missing as he was using them when I took this picture but I cleared off a book shelf to help organize his books.  

Since Firedrake didn't take her desk top monitor to college (she only needed her laptop) my husband added her monitor to my work space.  He assures me I will love it once I figure out how to use a dual monitor station.  As you can see this space and the shelves behind it are still in progress for a clean up.

This table MarioFan and I work for the subjects we do together.  

I have completely filled the recycle bin.  I have thrown out so much stuff.  I let go all the posters and a lot of the art projects the kids have done over the years.  I still have more to do but I am getting there. 

I am also selling or getting rid of as much of the old curriculum we have and will no longer use.  It is so liberating to free myself of all this school clutter but at the same time so many memories.  With MarioFan only two years away from graduating I need to start thinking of my next phase in life.  It is a little bit scary to be honest.