Online Learning

 Having had a rocky start to secondary education for Pip due to all the craziness of last year and continued uncertainty, we made the decision to enrol her on a six week trial with Inter High.  Her first lesson on Wednesday 13th at 8:30 am was Spanish!  Thankfully I was able to help as I seem to have a reasonable 'ear' for languages.  Despite being thrown in at the deep end she really enjoyed the lesson and has since been working through a free trial of Duo Lingo, at some point we might trial Rosetta Stone for comparison.

  Pip's chosen subjects are: English, Maths, STEM, Creative Arts, Spanish and Geography.  The teachers are really encouraging and Pip has gained confidence in adding her answers in the chat box; she even read a passage form The Odyssey for Friday's English Lesson.  She has between 3-4 online lessons each day with homework assignments and deadlines in between.

In the space of these past two weeks she has completed the following homework tasks:

One book review for 'Skellig' which she absolutely hated but persevered until the end and gave a rating of 1/5

One Comprehension piece that is shared on an online class notebook

One oral Spanish task based on the subjects she enjoys and why she likes them and one quiz based in definite and indefinite articles.

One Maths quiz, preparatory reading for the next session and a crash course in Microsoft 365.

One Geography assessment that began in the lesson and then had to be completed and submitted by the end of that day.

A Brainstorm art piece for her 'protest art' project, her chosen topic is child labour associated with cocoa farming and the importance to buy Fairtrade where possible.

One STEM drawing of her chosen building

Another two chapters of The Odyssey, background information on Greek myths and watching a televised drama based on the saga.

It's been a steep learning curve for us all including the early starts on three consecutive days!  Mornings are not easy when you're living with a chronic illness so we have always started the day slow, but the change of pace has been good for us all and given us a much needed focus for the day.    It's early days but so far so good and we are hoping and praying that this is the right fit for her educational journey.

She had to chose an object of symmetry and photograph it.

also Creative Arts protesting - Child labour in cocoa production.

Epiphany

 In an effort provide some cheer against a backdrop of another national lockdown, an NHS that is on the verge of collapse and later chaos over the pond, we attempted to celebrate three kings day.  I made mince pies as dessert for lunch and then later in the day wrote 20C+M+B+21 Christe Mansionem Benedicta 'Christ Bless This House.'

I've made a good recovery from my accident save from the original low back damage done on a previous fall eight weeks earlier.  I'm not surprised we are on another lockdown but I am weary of it and have struggled to remain focused this week.  I have another commissioned cot blanket that needs finishing as well as my Doula training.  I have recognised that I don't do to well in spreading myself thin, so I've decided to focus on the blanket first in the hopes of being a bit more organised.

Ben is missing college and the challenge has been to find practical DIY jobs for him to complete at home.  Pip is really missing her regular activities and we have therefore decided to trail ban online secondary classroom for a six week period to see if that may help.  All in all we are doing our best with the circumstances we are in :-)  

Here are some random photos of the past few weeks:

We bought tickets to 'visit' The Old Vic in London for their Zoom performance of A Christmas Carol not only was it very well done but they also encouraged folk to donate for a food bank charity.

Poppy's face says it all!  

One very exhausted ICU doctor asking people to do the right thing, follow the rules and not to gather in groups at New Year.  Unfortunately we have COVIDIOTS that actually believe the whole thing is fake! It's so upsetting to hear reports that doctors finishing a shift are met with abuse outside the same hospital where people are dying in large numbers from this new highly infectious variant :-(

Dave and I saw the New Year in against a backdrop of Pink Floyd in concert.  Little did we know that in a matter of days a stay home order would once more be given.  Hoping that this vaccine programme will work - they've even deployed the armed forces in logistical manoeuvres regarding transportation of the vaccine, as well as any other required services.

Keep safe x