{life with a curious and crazy almost 11 yr old}
This big thing did great for her 5th grade assessment – told her lovely (and patient) teacher about her snap circuit/bat box building/new garden/cooking classes/geography lessons (she and her father are doing a 500 piece on American Indian Tribes as we speak). They talked a little bit about finding some math-oriented games online and the teacher reminding me of the great lesson that if they want ‘more tv’ than you are willing to give, you could always let them watch it in Spanish (everything from Curious George to Ratatouille is avail in español)!
Our homeskool teacher is great – she has a couple of gals of her own so she knows all the tricks and tactics. She is very musically encouraging (makes her own guitars, etc) and runs the homeschool field trip group that we occasionally were able to take some adventures with (Boston Science Museum, Boston Aquarium, special rehearsal views of the yearly Portland ‘Nutcracker’, etc). She understands freeschooling and can assess fairly quickly the stages Duende is in. There was a bit of confusion at the end of our zoom assessment, as the internet was a little squirrely – so the teacher ‘didn’t say the words’ that D needed to hear. So I emailed her to make sure everything was all good and she sent back a special video congratulations to Duende saying, “Congratulations, you are now a 6th grader!” – yay!! Official. Another year solid for the state. Thank you, lovely teacher.
Recently, at a picnic event some friends were kind enough to compliment our little peach on her conversational skills, her unending (and unsolicited but kind) advice, and her hostess manners. They specifically mentioned that she is easy to talk to (unlike many children that are socialized only with their peers) and is very savvy. She’s a sweet soul – lately she’s worried about the nice older gentleman at the Transfer Station who calls her a little ‘angel’ (ha!). He’s a funny character who sometimes has one of his little pups with him, which she loves, too. And she’s so excited that a new family is moving in down the road (let’s all hope her dreams come true and it’s a kid she can play with…).
Her independence is high right now – lots of self directed baking, arting, she’s big on her chores lately (we changed the allowance structure so that most goes into her bank account but if she does her work well she gets some in cash, which she is enjoying spending on honeysticks and mango lassis at the Farmer’s Market), and building when Josh is also building (she’s been using the miter chop saw with Daddy, and her own hammer – thank you Uncle Cameron!). She’s really interested in skateboarding right now (she’s feeling good about her scooter and roller skate game lately) and swimming (we’ll have to find some good swimming holes this year).
Tonight for dinner she is tackling Thomas Keller’s Confit Biyaldi (the ratatouille from the movie)…she’s amazing.
11 is almost here! Looks like it’s going to be a good time.
Rock Bottom Homestead 