WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON'S
On Wednesday's from 1:30-4:30 the kids go to The Telling Room in Portland. The Telling Room is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping kids (and adults) find their inner writers. They offer many workshops and programs at no charge. Every Wednesday they open their space to young adults to come and write. There are volunteers there to help with ideas, critique work and offer inspiration and encouragement.
THURSDAY'S
Every Thursday we carpool to Gorham to participate in the classes that are offered by the co-op that we belong to. The name of the co-op is Earthschool and there are approximately 85 families and over 150 children ranging in age from 4-18. The classes are taught by the volunteer parents and some are even taught by the kids themselves. Our day begins at 10 a.m. with a one hour lunch break and recess/game/play time and ends at 3 p.m. Here is a sampling of the classes that our kids have participated in so far this year:
- Odyssey of the Mind
- Leggo Robotics
- Animee Art Class
- Digital Photography
- Drama
- Cooking
- Paper Quilling
- Journalism
- Writers Guild
- Dissection
- All kids have served on various planning committees
Friday's are internship days. The purpose of our internship program was to give the kids an opportunity to "work" in a field that interested them. Each of them had to create a list of goals that they wanted to achieve during their internship, and while they are at their respective jobs they are required to keep a journal. In the journal they record what they have done that day, any challenges they encountered and what they learned that brought them closer to their goals.
Able chose to do his internship at Pownal Veterinary Hospital. While there Able is allowed to observe operations such as the removal of an ovarian cyst. He has witnessed the intubation process and has learned to identify various blood borne parasites. He is also able to participate in patient interviews and assist during all appointments. During the down time, Able helps with general office chores.
Sophie's internship is at Rise and Shine Child Care Center in New Gloucester. Sophie's interest is in early childhood development. She has been helping in both the infant room and the toddler room. To prepare she participated in a workshop and has had hands on instruction. She also participated in a recent open house. She helps with feeding, diaper changes and nurturing. One of her other duties is to record data on each child that she assists with.
Sophie is also involved with The Children's Theatre of Maine and will be performing with Youth Voices in the coming weeks. Youth Voices is a peer group that brings anti-bullying messages through role playing to local schools.
Sarah will be finishing up her first internship at the end of this month. She wanted to do her internship at Sable Oak Equestrian Center in Brunswick with Sherrye Trafton-Johnson. Sarah has been riding horses since she was 6 years old and wanted to learn more about training, natural horsemanship, breeding and barn management. She also helps out with school vacation camps and has regular barn chores. Starting in February she will be interning at The Grapheteria in Portland. She will be working with owner Jim Castonia learning about photography. Jim is a published photographer and talented artist. While there she will have the opportunity to work with The Salt Institute to learn about photo journalism and writing.
So, as you can see, we have a pretty full week with lots of variety. Either Jen or one of the kids will be back to update you next week. Until then you can check out some of the websites we like:
Wonderopolis , MIT Open Courseware , Saylor free online courses , In Praise of Homeschools , Virtual Dissection
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