The Jorgensen Academy of Excellence - Our First Month

Cruz and Mila have officially been enrolled in the Jorgensen Academy of Excellence for about a month now and I'm happy to say they are still showing up every morning.  Somedays more ready to learn than others. ;)  At dinner just last week, I quizzed them to see if they would rather be home learning with me or at school learning with their friends.  They were both an automatic HOME! so I'm counting that as a win.  I am feeling all the energy and excitement (and sometimes frustration) I did as a teacher.  One of my favorite parts of teaching was always coming up with the curriculum.  I loved pairing exciting and meaningful topics with deep learning experiences that were going to make my students think.  Rediscovering this passion again, only this time for my own little people, has brought a lot of joy for me this spring.  I'm also fully aware that this is definitely not for everyone and am a firm believer that kids can experience meaningful, learning-based opportunities in many different ways and there is no one perfect model for how we're operating right now.  We're all just doing the best we can.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that this home-schooling thing has provided a window into so many new insights about these kids we're raising.  Before March, I can't honestly say I knew a whole lot about what Cruz and Mila were supposed to be learning or how they learned best in an academic setting.  I just trusted that their teachers knew what they were doing!  Now, that separation between school and home is pretty nonexistent and it's been eye-opening and enlightening to see the process of learning unfold in front of my eyes.  It's been fun to see the many ways teachers explain concepts, share resources, connect and communicate with their students, and continue to teach from afar.  And it's been equally as rewarding to take the foundation they've built and continue to nurture it in a way that makes sense for us here at home.  For example, one of the big reading concepts for third grade is building an understanding of character traits in a story, especially traits that reveal character change or a bigger theme using text evidence to support.  Instead of using a separate story provided by his teachers, I asked if we could do this same thing with Harry Potter.  And then instead of the chart, we made some mind maps to display and use to illustrate the character traits we see every day.  I made one for Hermoine and Cruz is focusing on Harry.  Now every day after our reading, we each try and pull out a trait we saw expressed in our character and record our thoughts and the part of the story that revealed it.  We've already had some insightful conversations that have completely elevated what we were already doing with Harry Potter.  It's been fun to make things that were already a part of our home and turn them into learning experiences through simple changes like the questions I ask or the ways I'm a lot more willing to ask them to be involved in the process. 

           
A few home-school highlights to remember from this past week...

Cruz and I get started every morning around 8:00.  I drink my coffee, we read Harry Potter, and it is my favorite way to ease into our routine.  Then from 8:30-9:30, I always try and have a hands-on, collaborative activity for Cruz and Mila to do together.  I try to coincide these challenges with whatever we're working with that day, but other times I throw in some spontaneous challenges based on what the kids need.  If they're feeling a little bit rambunctious, I have them sort through their puzzles or organize their coins into counting collections.  If they're feeling less wild, they make towns with road tape or water parks with marble towers.  And I usually use this time to get caught up on the previous night's emails.   

It's been fun to see the kids adapt to the Zoom world at the same time most adults are.  They each have weekly Zoom dates with their class and it's at times adorable and at times chaos.  One morning last week, both kids met at the same time and we had technology issues with both devices.  Oh, and both kids wore bathrobes to their class Zoom.  Professionally ready, quarantine style.    

We spent a good part of our learning last week finishing up their "passion projects."  We started these right after spring break and have worked on them step by step each week.  They each chose a topic that was interesting to them, developed a big "wonder" question to consider throughout their research, read and recorded notes on five different sources, and created projects to share all their learning with us.  Mila's topic was owls and her big question was, Why are owls known as the wisest animal? and Cruz chose Greek Mythology and wondered Why has Greek Mythology endured over time?  Mila created a poster and prepared a read aloud to share with us, and Cruz made his first ever Google slideshow presentation.  We talked about important presentation skills such as eye contact, strong voice, and passion for the topic, as well as ways to communicate their knowledge in a clear and organized way.  Yesterday they presented their final products to us and we celebrated their hard work and gave them some feedback to improve.  They both did a really great job!

When we work hard, we usually celebrate with ice cream. :)

We may not always get it right, and I may run out of patience at times, but we are laughing a whole lot which makes me think we're getting something right.  The thing I think I'll remember the most is watching the two of them together.  They are relying on each other in such sweet ways and are the best companions.  I'm so proud of them.  

Last week the governor announced that students would not be returning this school year.  I spent a good chunk of the week blending the influx of resources we started receiving from school with some of the rhythms that were working for us at home.  And this week, I'm so excited to start some new projects all geared toward the theme of celebrating and studying Mother Earth.  We are going to study our ecosystem right here in Cedar Falls at one of our favorite nature backdrops to explore, we're going to learn about the 4 R's and small ways we can do our part to take care of our planet, we're going to make some fun earth day inspired snacks, and we're going to plant our first recycled egg shell garden and see how we do.  And tonight, we're going to become park rangers and explore many of the most beautiful natural wonders of our country.  We're even going to sleep in a tent and gaze up at some twinkly lights. ;)  Stay tuned!    

Easter in Quarantine

"We miss the comings and goings of everyday life.  Things feel shaky and unsteady and fragile.  It's like the shades have been pulled back and we're realizing to be human is to be vulnerable.  Our jobs, our homes, our work, our health, our relationships - it's never as secure as we trick ourselves to believing.  Home on this earth is never going to be perfect or whole or complete...."

But God - 

"Don't let this throw you.  You trust God, don't you?  Trust me.  There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home.  If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you?  And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live.  And you already know the road I'm taking."  (John 14:1-4, the Message)

"Our primal instinct when life gets tough is to yearn for home.  When Jesus died on the cross, he made a way for everyone of us to go home."

I hope I don't forget Alice's sermon on Easter morning, snuggled up on the couch for another live stream church at home, only this time on a cold, dark, and dreary Easter Sunday.  Her message this year was about home, a fitting topic since most people are spending more time at home than ever before.  She spoke of our instinct for home, especially when times are bad, the imperfect nature of our earthly homes, and the eternal home Christ imprinted on our hearts from the very beginning and forever paved the path through the cross.  His plan for redemption was always about getting his people home. 

We spent more time this year than ever before really leaning into the man Jesus was and just what he did through the cross.  I loved gearing most of our home-school activities around Easter and we had so many good conversations together throughout the week.  One afternoon, we were talking about it on the trampoline and Cruz was asking all sorts of questions.  All of a sudden, the tears started flowing and he was connecting all these dots of eternity and the heaviness of it all.  And sweet Mila inched a little bit closer to him, rubbed his back with her sweet hand, and asked if we could pray together.  We prayed, right there on the trampoline, thanking Jesus for his sacrifice asking him to keep us close and safe during this scary Coronavirus.  Easter and home and these people I love so much and the time we had to just be in it all felt really special this year.  

We also had a lot of fun with eggs and bunnies and spring cakes and such.  Except for that part on Good Friday when I casually told Mila the Easter bunny wasn't real and made her sob.  Let's just say I don't have the best track record or timing when it comes to Easter bunny confessions.  

We kicked off "Make Art Monday" with more of Emily Lex's wonderful online watercolor classes.  Our technique has definitely improved since we first started. 

The kids' challenge one morning was to fill plastic eggs and create a plan to "egg" their cousins.  They loved being all sneaky about this and Cruz woke up at 5:30 the following morning to see if it was time.  We had so much fun that we turned around and "egged" Claire and Jaycie the next day, too.  When I asked them if they had more fun hiding eggs or hunting them, they both emphatically answered "HIDING THEM!"

I incorporated so many fun Holy Week activities from a resource Kate had sent me from Focus on the Family.  This sequencing activity was an excellent collaborative challenge for Cruz and Mila one morning and it was fun to listen to them work together to put the events of Jesus' life in order from his birth to Holy Week.

Sometimes, the activities are so fun that I don't want to miss out!  We went through some old magazines one morning and filled collages full of pictures and words that reminded us of Jesus.  It was sweet to see what they came up with.

We spent a beautiful day outside, exploring in the woods and attempting to complete an Easter scavenger hunt.  But you've probably heard by now why our excursion was cut a little short... ;)

I broke out of the house for some groceries, some fresh tulips, and a special deliver to our Cedar Valley Love Box family.  I put together a "Quarantine-inspired Love Box" and had so much fun sharing some of my favorite homey things with them.      

We dyed Easter eggs.  Yep, it's still one of my least favorite holiday traditions... 

We baked homemade bread and talked about why Jesus called himself the Bread of Life.  

We had a special Good Friday meal together.  We lit candles, read scripture from the Last Supper, broke bread and gave the kids grape juice.  Oh, and then I ruined the Easter Bunny.   

We had donuts show up on our doorstep the next morning, not from the Easter Bunny but from the Shaws.  I think they felt bad for Mila. ;)

We spent a good part of Saturday making food - breakfast casserole and frozen fruit cups for Easter brunch, and ham and potatoes and a pretty cake for Easter dinner.  We spent so much time in the kitchen that we rewarded ourselves with yummy takeout for dinner, including 2 for 1 margaritas from Amigos!  

And the slowest Easter Sunday to follow.  We watched church from the couch, had a yummy breakfast, took naps, gave the kids their Easter baskets, had hot cocoa and cake, called and FaceTimed the family we missed, played Sorry, and at night, watched the Sight and Sound Theater's production of the Jesus story.  This was such a treat!  During my growing up years, I always loved going to the big Easter production at Cedar Valley Church.  This reminded me of that and the kids' response to the production and story of it all was full of excitement and so many questions.  It was a great way to end our Easter weekend.      

It was an Easter for the books!