Or, a short update on our homeschooling:This week, Anne-with-an-e spent some time shadowing our veterinarian. She watched a dental procedure (translation: teeth had to be yanked out, lots of blood), dogs and cats being spayed and neutered, and a declawing.
She didn't faint or get queasy. (I'm beaming.)
When offered the opportunity to take a closer look at (translation: dissect) an eye that had been removed from a cat, she declined. It was, after all, her first day.
Best not to push those queasiness limits.
This still stuns me. I thought I was raising a writer. She says "writer" is still on the table, but this vet stuff is pretty compelling business.
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On the writing front, I hope to get time soon to tell you more about Anne's "Harry Potter Fan Fiction Challenge" -- she issued it to the whole family, assigned two basic plot ideas from which we could choose, and gave us a deadline. The deadline was Christmas Eve, so clearly, I'm a little behind in my reporting on this ....
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Speaking of writing challenges, Ramona took a cue from Anne and issued a poetry challenge. This came right after we had a warmish day, and she was inspired to write a springtime poem she entitled "Hamilton Beach." (Yes, I believe a small appliance was in sight.) She made invitations for the whole family, urged us to accept her poetry challenge, and promptly forgot about it.
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The other day, Ramona said to me, "Mommy, tell me if you think this is an in-drawing book."
I said, in that oh-so-intelligent way I have, "Huh?"
"Listen," she said patiently, and proceeded to read the first sentence of a book to me. "Doesn't that sentence draw you in?" she asked. "Don't you want to know what happens next? This is an in-drawing book."
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Betsy is still at work on her novel, which features characters with names like Arrow, Pure, and Faith, but recently she has spent more time on a short story that is now up to, I believe, 12,000 words. This frightens me. I never wrote more than 1,016 words at a time when I was her age.
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Betsy has also been spending some time teaching herself new songs on the piano. (I generously call it a piano ... it's actually a keyboard, but it works for learning basics, and for me to pretend I can play "Amazing Grace.") She's teaching Ramona what she's learning, too. I love this kind of self-directed stuff.
Your household just bristles with intelligence. It's always so much fun to read about.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good thing Anne is interested in vet science. "She'll need a proper paying job if she wants to be a writer." So said my family to me while I was growing up, anyway!
Oh, Sarah, you made me laugh. Sometimes the only thing we bristle with is bristling. :-)
ReplyDeleteBut, you're right about a proper paying job! Maybe she'll be another James Herriott. :)
One more paragraph and you would have had seven quick takes.
ReplyDeleteI'm just saying...
This is a fun post, Karen--very Eds-y and delightful.
PS. My word verification for today is "graps". I think today, instead of coming to terms with my weaknesses, I will come to graps with them.
Margaret, I will have to come to graps with whether or not I can commit to doing Seven Quick Takes. :)
ReplyDeleteI love that word. All kinds of new uses. I think the key grip on a movie should now be the key grap.
Or, it could be a new drink: "I'll have a double mocha grap with skim milk."
Or, it's part of nature study: "Graps are often spotted in the northeast at this time of year."
Okay. Must stop.
James Herriott indeed. I think anyone who can sit through that sort of procedure has a special calling - I couldn't read your first paragraph without cringing and feeling faint.
ReplyDeleteHamilton Beach - that is hilarious. And I want to read all your Harry Potter stuff. Especially if you have a version where Sirius lives. Sigh.
My thought exactly: she can be a vet and a writer like James Herriott! Great minds think alike.
ReplyDeleteAnd you and Margaret with your "graps" have made my morning!
I think it's a good thing Anne is interested in vet science. But, you're right about a proper paying job! Maybe she'll be another James Herriott. Earn your high school diploma from home or enroll in our other accredited home study correspondence courses.
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