Jia's french homework was about favorite animals. She picked a turtle. She's been on and on and on and on about getting a pet turtle for weeks. With full force adhd passion. So she was pleased about doing a paper craft I found to go along with the french writing. Doesn't she look pleased in the picture? Her pet turtle will be named Jarod and they will be best friends and he will come everywhere with us. I've tried telling her they stink, messy tanks, hard to care for, not really much for personality. I had a pet turtle once. I loved him of course but I personally feel very little need to have another one. She can't hear me. I see zero evidence that she would step up and do the work so it's just not happening. I'm happy to love on paper Jarod though.
Jia made the craft on her own. I cut out the pieces for the boys. Eric assisted Luk with assembly. I called Kai to come help put his together but he cried and I told him to go play. Simple for me...no tears in my classroom. Eric saw for the first time that this is his new get out of school tactic and told him to come back and sit at his desk. No more fun when he gets out of school work. Unfortunately it means we have to listen to him sniffling and sobbing. How on earth is building cute turtles torture?
Jia found a microwave mug recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They turned out ok. Nice warm treat. She made one for herself and then went back and made one for all the siblings.
Her teacher just lost a parent so her principal has stepped in. He assigned make a times table. Drawing the lines difficult, doing the math simple. She also had to draw six simple machines and write about them. She came to work with me yesterday and knocked that out here at the office. Clever girl. Now...how do I get her to actually like reading?! She does it, under duress. She reads well but finds it boring, slow and predictable.
Lunch on Saturday. Potatoe salad and apple pie. I've never made decent pastry. Told Eric we should try while we have the time. It looked good, it tasted good but still super tough.
Getting closer for those naps.
Coco can't get up on the couch. She's picked this spot on the shelf for when she's sleepy and we neglect to pick her up. Too cute. She needs a pillow there.
Morning cuddles before I left for work. Oh Walter. Sasha wanted up too.
Eric thinks we should continue homeschool. Haha. We are NOT on the same page with this one. I could maybe muddle through with Luk because he's keen to learn and is happy to work independently. Jia is tough to keep on task and requires my full on attention to get it done. As for Kai, I have no freaking clue how to teach him anything. At all. We still work on toileting, washing hands, eating without double fisting, manners of all kinds. His speech is a disaster. His therapists don't make much progress either but at least we can all feel like we're trying. I can't imagine homeschool for Kai. Perhaps if I was home and we could settle into a routine but the pace we have now is not something I can maintain. It's only possible because we have no social activities filling our time. Feeling like a failure a lot of the time these days. Or that I'm failing the kids. More specifically that I'm failing Kai. He needs a village. Stretched too thin. Most of the time I figure a few months off school is no big deal. Kids just need to keep their mental health. It's the comparing other's journeys that makes it feel so hard.
Eric had Luk's neurologist Dr. appointment yesterday on the phone. It went decently well for a phone appointment. She has been pushing for both boys to be homeschooled for a couple years so she got Eric's positive feed back about how much better they're both doing in general and wants us to continue. Not helping my case. I agree there are lots of things that are easier AND I look forward to dropping them off at school again one day. It's not about wanting them away from us, it's about not feeling adequate as a teacher in general.
Lili got early courtesy news that she didn't get a place in the BA of Science in Nursing at VIU. Her first choice. Lili doesn't ever fail so I'm not sure this was a real possibility in her mind. Now we still wait to hear from the other two nursing schools. Which are both admittedly not keen on accepting students right out of high school. Now she ponders the 2nd choice options. Mainly either a LPN two year course and bridge gaping to the BA. Which requires another biology course over the summer. Which she did register for last night. Or doing BA of Science. She has been accepted to VIU and UVIC for this option already. Also offered a $2000 scholarship by UVIC. Tuition less at UVIC with the scholarship but dorms are more and she doesn't like the dorms or food there. After MUCH debate she accepted at VIU in Nanaimo for the living situation. She is hoping for placement in a townhouse/dorm so she will have a kitchen. So many options. It is KILLING me to not jump in and make the calls and ask the questions and make the decisions. Gentle support with the occasional thought provoking question thrown in. She remains firm that she wants to be a surgical or anesthesiologist nurse. With the occasional thought of maybe medical school. It's hard to watch. For today we have two semi solid back up plans underway. Thankfully the big girls are managing their school work on their own. Lili doesn't seem too concerned yet about grad celebrations being cancelled.
Update already. Lili has been on the phone/email all day and has now ruled out the LPN course and dropped the summer biology class for now. Concentrating on BA of Science at VIU while waiting to hear about the other two nursing programs. She has requested a zoom meeting to work through which classes she should be requesting. She is honors with distinction so gets first choice which is great. Would be better if she knew what she wanted though ;) Also the high school is ordering their caps and gowns. Still no word on what or how the social distanced celebration will play out but at least we can dress up and pose with her in her cap and gown when the time comes.
