For another school project, Lily had to read an excerpt from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Notice her accent! She loves experimenting with accents!
Friday, May 22, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
About our weekends...
Our weekends are quiet and spent at home... where else? 😉
May 10 was Mother's Day and even though we just stayed home, I enjoyed it. Lily and Marcus prepared a nice breakfast for me and Ennio promised to listen to me all day long 😆
I got to choose whatever I wanted to do and I asked them for "free time" AKA "me-time" and spent it having a drink and updating this blog (I think I wrote like 15 blogposts!) After I was done, I had a great feeling of accomplishment! Yay, and thank you, kids (and Marcus for keeping them entertained)!!!
Last weekend, I was also very productive! Marcus' frustration with his hair had built up so much that he almost begged me to cut it. I gave him a haircut with our brand-new hair scissors and we were both quite pleased with the result! Who knows, after this pandemic, Ennio and Marcus might decide not to need the hairdresser anymore! 😂
This is the video tutorial I watched before having a go at it!
At night, Lily had a video Camp-In with her Girl Scouts troop. This weekend was the weekend she was supposed to go camping, but of course, that didn't happen, so instead the girls organized a camp adventure via Zoom. They were asked to dig out their camping gear and pick their spot - backyard tent, bedroom fort, or even under the dining room table... They sang songs, had a drawing contest, a pet fashion show, and more. It looked like so much fun! Lily ended up sleeping in her fort and had such a good night that she's been sleeping there (in our living room) ever since...
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. In between, Lily had an emotional breakdown and cried a lot. She just misses her friends so much and is so scared and anxious about next school year. She's the complete opposite of Ennio, who loves being at home and wishes he could be schooled like this forever!
Another exciting thing is that our solar panels are finally on and operating (we started this project before the lockdown), just in time for summer - and since we will be spending a lot of time at home and probably using a lot of energy, this is perfect timing!
Finally, we're trying to be creative. One way we do this is by making our own face masks. This one is made out of an old sock. Finally, I found a purpose for all those single socks laying around the house, woohoo!
May 10 was Mother's Day and even though we just stayed home, I enjoyed it. Lily and Marcus prepared a nice breakfast for me and Ennio promised to listen to me all day long 😆
I got to choose whatever I wanted to do and I asked them for "free time" AKA "me-time" and spent it having a drink and updating this blog (I think I wrote like 15 blogposts!) After I was done, I had a great feeling of accomplishment! Yay, and thank you, kids (and Marcus for keeping them entertained)!!!
Last weekend, I was also very productive! Marcus' frustration with his hair had built up so much that he almost begged me to cut it. I gave him a haircut with our brand-new hair scissors and we were both quite pleased with the result! Who knows, after this pandemic, Ennio and Marcus might decide not to need the hairdresser anymore! 😂
This is the video tutorial I watched before having a go at it!
At night, Lily had a video Camp-In with her Girl Scouts troop. This weekend was the weekend she was supposed to go camping, but of course, that didn't happen, so instead the girls organized a camp adventure via Zoom. They were asked to dig out their camping gear and pick their spot - backyard tent, bedroom fort, or even under the dining room table... They sang songs, had a drawing contest, a pet fashion show, and more. It looked like so much fun! Lily ended up sleeping in her fort and had such a good night that she's been sleeping there (in our living room) ever since...
On Sunday, we went on a social distancing walk with Emmet and his dad Greg and had sushi from one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner. That's always such a treat!
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. In between, Lily had an emotional breakdown and cried a lot. She just misses her friends so much and is so scared and anxious about next school year. She's the complete opposite of Ennio, who loves being at home and wishes he could be schooled like this forever!
Another exciting thing is that our solar panels are finally on and operating (we started this project before the lockdown), just in time for summer - and since we will be spending a lot of time at home and probably using a lot of energy, this is perfect timing!
Finally, we're trying to be creative. One way we do this is by making our own face masks. This one is made out of an old sock. Finally, I found a purpose for all those single socks laying around the house, woohoo!
Friday, May 15, 2020
Distance learning
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| Ennio during his Monday morning Zoom meeting with his class |
On March 16, 2020, in response to the national pandemic emergency due to the threat of COVID-19 and in prevention of it spreading, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) closed its schools. Shortly thereafter, on March 19, 2020, both the City of Los Angeles and the State of California issued "Safer at Home" orders, asking all but essential workers to stay home in an effort to address COVID-19 issues. On April 13, 2020, LAUSD extended school closures through Summer 2020. As a result, all LAUSD students have transitioned from learning at school to an @home learning plan, also referred to as distance learning.
This new way of learning certainly presented its challenges to kids, teachers and parents alike. During the first 3 weeks, homework packages were sent home to be completed by Spring Break. Then after Spring Break, most teachers had set up virtual classrooms, assignments and projects. We are now in week 5 of distance learning. Week 1 truly was a disaster. I honestly did not see how we (Marcus and I) were supposed to manage teaching and working at the same time (and keeping the house more or less clean and not a total mess 😉)
Both kids, and especially Ennio, need a lot of support and guidance in their learning. Ennio has a lot of support services in place when he's at school, but all of that fell away when schools closed. Lily is a daydreamer and easily distracted and then gets behind on her school work. It is hard for them to work independently, and for Ennio near impossible. We had to find some solutions. For Ennio, that came in the form of daily Zoom meetings with his BII aide, Mr. Juan. Juan gets on-line every morning and helps Ennio with his classroom assignments which are posted on Google Classroom every week by his teacher. Ennio is able to share his screen and do his work, while Juan is there to help him stay focused, make sure he watches the videos, reads the questions, explains his answers to him, etc. We still need to sit by him in the afternoon to complete the day's classwork, but at least we have our mornings to ourselves! Lily mostly works by herself, but I do have to supervise a couple of times a week to check that everything gets done. She's also asking me to help her with history (one of my favorite subjects) and Marcus is her helper in need when things get complicated in math or science. You could say we have found our routine, but it's only doable if I don't lose my planner and the list of passwords for all the virtual platforms and meetings!
Here is Ennio's schedule - please, try not to get overwhelmed!
Mondays:
8:00 AM: Watch the Monday morning school assembly on Vimeo
8:30 AM: Monday Morning Mingle Zoom meeting with 3rd grade classroom
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments (Khan Academy, BrainPop, IXL Social Studies and Science, Time for Kids, etc) with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
Tuesdays:
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
Wednesdays:
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
Thursdays:
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
2:00 PM: Zoom meeting with recreational therapist
3:00 PM: Skype session with Dutch tutor, juf Karin
5:00 PM: Social skills Zoom meeting session
Fridays:
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
On top of that, Ennio's also getting Speech activities, OT (occupational therapy) activities and Orchestra class. Speech and OT activities are sent by e-mail and have to be completed at home. Orchestra is given through the Schoology, Smart Music and musictheory.net websites and apps (great resources but not easy to get set up and work your way through it!) For these activities, we have no on-line individual support, so we actually have not gotten round to completing most of these tasks. It's just not feasible to do it all 😞
Lily is being instructed on the Skies learning platform (www.skieslearn.com). Her assignments (English Language Arts, Math, Health, History, Science and Art) are self-paced, meaning she can spread them out through the week at her own pace. She has a couple of mandatory class meetings and/or lessons.
Mondays:
8:00 AM: Watch the Monday morning school assembly on Vimeo
10:30 AM: Mandatory class Zoom meeting/Math lesson with 5th grade teacher
Tuesdays:
Independent work on Skies Learn
Wednesdays:
10:30 AM: Optional class Zoom meeting for questions or problems
Thursdays:
Independent work on Skies Learn
4:00 PM: Skype session with Dutch tutor, juf Karin
Fridays:
10:30 AM: Mandatory class Zoom meeting with 5th grade teacher
Lily also has Orchestra class, for which she has music theory and sight reading assignments and should submit music recordings. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find the discipline (for us and the kids) to have them play their instruments - the cello and the trumpet - during this time. They prefer to play games on weekends instead of music 😞. I hope we can still catch up because I would hate to see them lose their beginning and developing music skills.
As you see, there's no lack of work at home! We are far from bored, that's for sure!
This new way of learning certainly presented its challenges to kids, teachers and parents alike. During the first 3 weeks, homework packages were sent home to be completed by Spring Break. Then after Spring Break, most teachers had set up virtual classrooms, assignments and projects. We are now in week 5 of distance learning. Week 1 truly was a disaster. I honestly did not see how we (Marcus and I) were supposed to manage teaching and working at the same time (and keeping the house more or less clean and not a total mess 😉)
Both kids, and especially Ennio, need a lot of support and guidance in their learning. Ennio has a lot of support services in place when he's at school, but all of that fell away when schools closed. Lily is a daydreamer and easily distracted and then gets behind on her school work. It is hard for them to work independently, and for Ennio near impossible. We had to find some solutions. For Ennio, that came in the form of daily Zoom meetings with his BII aide, Mr. Juan. Juan gets on-line every morning and helps Ennio with his classroom assignments which are posted on Google Classroom every week by his teacher. Ennio is able to share his screen and do his work, while Juan is there to help him stay focused, make sure he watches the videos, reads the questions, explains his answers to him, etc. We still need to sit by him in the afternoon to complete the day's classwork, but at least we have our mornings to ourselves! Lily mostly works by herself, but I do have to supervise a couple of times a week to check that everything gets done. She's also asking me to help her with history (one of my favorite subjects) and Marcus is her helper in need when things get complicated in math or science. You could say we have found our routine, but it's only doable if I don't lose my planner and the list of passwords for all the virtual platforms and meetings!
Here is Ennio's schedule - please, try not to get overwhelmed!
Mondays:
8:00 AM: Watch the Monday morning school assembly on Vimeo
8:30 AM: Monday Morning Mingle Zoom meeting with 3rd grade classroom
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments (Khan Academy, BrainPop, IXL Social Studies and Science, Time for Kids, etc) with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
Tuesdays:
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
Wednesdays:
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
Thursdays:
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
2:00 PM: Zoom meeting with recreational therapist
3:00 PM: Skype session with Dutch tutor, juf Karin
5:00 PM: Social skills Zoom meeting session
Fridays:
9:30 AM - 12 noon: Google Classroom assignments with Juan
Afternoon: Work on assignments with mom or dad
On top of that, Ennio's also getting Speech activities, OT (occupational therapy) activities and Orchestra class. Speech and OT activities are sent by e-mail and have to be completed at home. Orchestra is given through the Schoology, Smart Music and musictheory.net websites and apps (great resources but not easy to get set up and work your way through it!) For these activities, we have no on-line individual support, so we actually have not gotten round to completing most of these tasks. It's just not feasible to do it all 😞
Lastly, Ennio is getting videos from his RSP (resource specialist program) teachers on Class Dojo. He wrote them this message last week for Teacher Appreciation week.
Lily is being instructed on the Skies learning platform (www.skieslearn.com). Her assignments (English Language Arts, Math, Health, History, Science and Art) are self-paced, meaning she can spread them out through the week at her own pace. She has a couple of mandatory class meetings and/or lessons.
Mondays:
8:00 AM: Watch the Monday morning school assembly on Vimeo
10:30 AM: Mandatory class Zoom meeting/Math lesson with 5th grade teacher
Tuesdays:
Independent work on Skies Learn
Wednesdays:
10:30 AM: Optional class Zoom meeting for questions or problems
Thursdays:
Independent work on Skies Learn
4:00 PM: Skype session with Dutch tutor, juf Karin
Fridays:
10:30 AM: Mandatory class Zoom meeting with 5th grade teacher
Lily also has Orchestra class, for which she has music theory and sight reading assignments and should submit music recordings. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find the discipline (for us and the kids) to have them play their instruments - the cello and the trumpet - during this time. They prefer to play games on weekends instead of music 😞. I hope we can still catch up because I would hate to see them lose their beginning and developing music skills.
As you see, there's no lack of work at home! We are far from bored, that's for sure!
Koi pond fish feeding adventures
Our new neighbors had to go out of town for a week and asked us to take care of their koi fish and feed them once or twice a day. No problem at all! We loved walking over and enjoying their spacious Japanese garden for a bit while feeding the fish!
Saturday, May 09, 2020
Ennio's cursive name bug
Ennio also has art projects to do!
His was to practice cursive writing and symmetry when making a name bug. His art teacher, Ms. Ng, thought it would be a fun way to be creative and use different art mediums.
Materials: white construction paper, pencil, black crayon, markers, crayons, colored pencils, water color (optional).
Steps:
1. Fold white paper in half lengthwise.
2. Write your name in cursive along the crease of the paper. The letters should be large and neat.
3. Trace over your name with black crayon a few times and then refold the paper and rub it so the name mirrors itself on the other side.
4. When you open the paper, you should retrace it with a black crayon.
5. Use your markers, crayons, pencils... to color your bug! Anything you do on one side should be done on the other side.
6. Take a picture of your bug creature and share with the rest of the class.
Here's Ennio's bug. I helped with retracing his name. His name worked out well to create a bug. He said the E looked like a butt, so had to be the bug's bottom :-) The dots on the i are the hands, and the last O makes two eyes. He colored using soft pastels. We used gold water color for the background.
His was to practice cursive writing and symmetry when making a name bug. His art teacher, Ms. Ng, thought it would be a fun way to be creative and use different art mediums.
Materials: white construction paper, pencil, black crayon, markers, crayons, colored pencils, water color (optional).
Steps:
1. Fold white paper in half lengthwise.
2. Write your name in cursive along the crease of the paper. The letters should be large and neat.
3. Trace over your name with black crayon a few times and then refold the paper and rub it so the name mirrors itself on the other side.
4. When you open the paper, you should retrace it with a black crayon.
5. Use your markers, crayons, pencils... to color your bug! Anything you do on one side should be done on the other side.
6. Take a picture of your bug creature and share with the rest of the class.
Here's Ennio's bug. I helped with retracing his name. His name worked out well to create a bug. He said the E looked like a butt, so had to be the bug's bottom :-) The dots on the i are the hands, and the last O makes two eyes. He colored using soft pastels. We used gold water color for the background.
Friday, May 08, 2020
Teacher Appreciation Week 2020
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| Emmet and Lily in front of the school gate! |
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| I know, Ennio is not wearing his mask over his nose... It's a struggle! |
Standing Parade on Friday:
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| Lily, Mia and Milie |
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| Oliver D, Oliver A and Shea |
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| Dr. G! |
Getty Museum Art Challenge
1. Choose your favorite artwork.
2. Find three things lying around your house.
3. Recreate the artwork with those items.
This project was inspired by the Getty Museum art challenge: http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/getty-artworks-recreated-with-household-items-by-creative-geniuses-the-world-over/
We had an art book lying around the house and found a painting that seemed do-able in terms of recreating it: L'actrice Lili Damita by Kees van Dongen.
Lily's classmates posted their artworks on the Skies Learn platform as well and I was amazed by some of them. Here's some of their work for your enjoyment!
Monday, May 04, 2020
5th Grade Invention Convention: the Kitty Contraption!
Lily's infomercial for her school's Invention Convention project "Kitty Contraption"!
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