Monday: Halloween?

Happy Halloween everyone! Today was supposed to be a wonderful day, but unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate with us. First off, we had a horrible snow storm this weekend, which took the power out of most of our town. Our house still has no heat and no power, so life has gotten a little harder. Today I went to math class in the morning, then went to the library to work somewhere that was warm. At the library, I did math homework and studied for German. This week I have a test in German on the third chapter in our book and a test in math on graphing, and systems of equations. I feel dreadfully behind in math right now, but hopefully I will feel more comfortable after studying for the test.

I blogged with a Halloween poem, and did the Write on Wednesday prompt for this week. Then I had lunch and went to German class, where we had a spelling quiz. This afternoon, I plan to work with the math that I don't understand, and study for the oral German test tomorrow.

As if the day had not been bad enough, our town postponed trick or treating until Saturday. Hopefully I will survive the bad weather, the unheated house, and the tests long enough to go trick or treating!

Claire

Vegetables Rock!

I recently finished a stunningly good book called Vegetables Rock: A complete guide for Teenage Vegetarians. This book has helped me immensely, and I have only had it for several days. I am a semi recent vegetarian, and this book gave me all the knowledge and fun facts, nutrition and recipes I could ever want. I recommend it to anyone and everyone, and it has proved very valuable so far.

Friday: Grandparents=Clean Up!

Hey guys.
So this Friday was not the most academically intense ever, but I felt that I managed the time well and ended up doing just about what I thought I would do. In the morning, I had math class, where I was informed we have a test this coming Wednesday. I think I will take the opportunity to study a little this weekend, just to get ahead...

After math class, I put on my dusty snow boots and walked across the fields to my old elementary school. Over the past few weeks, I have gone there on Fridays to volunteer with my old kindergarten teacher. It is a great experience, and I love helping the kids with their crafts and centers. That tends to eat up my time on Fridays, but I believe it is totally worth it.

After coming home from the school, I prepared for my German class, which included learning a new dialogue in German. Then, I straightened up the house because my grandparents (großeltern, to use my German language skills) were due to arrive that afternoon.

In the afternoon, I went to German class, and then had soccer practice which was sunny but very chilly.
Then, my grandparents arrived, as they are staying for the weekend.

Claire

Snow!

Wednesday night, before Halloween, and it snowed here about two inches. This is absolutely crazy weather and it was pretty funny to throw the first snowballs of the season in October. Hopefully it melts for Halloween!

Claire

Thursday: Veggies, Veggies, Rain

Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. At least according to the weather. Fortunately, I did not listen. This morning I went running in freezing rain with a temperature in the forties. It was brutal, but at least it woke me up. After showering and attempting to bring my body heat back up, I began my work for the day. I organized my pottery and cleaned up a little bit.

Next, I had a wonderful idea, if I do say so myself. I needed something to listen to while doing my math homework and drawing a little bit, so I turned on my CD of A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare. I love that play, and listening to it was wonderful. I know it well enough that it was not a distraction, but at the same time I could soak up the poetry while doing math homework. It was such fun!

Midmorning, the mail came, along with a package from Amazon with some books I had ordered. It was a great surprise, and I spent most of the rest of the day reading them. The books were:

Veggies Rock! which is a complete guide to teenage vegetarianism (I am a semi new recruit and it was a good idea to get this book as far as nutrition goes)

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship...I love to sail, and was very interested in learning more about it during my off season. I also hope to learn more of the science and navigation of sailing.

Animal Behavior, because I am an animal lover, and thought it was a great idea to include animals in my science learnings this year...

Anyway, I spent an hour or more reading the Veggie book, because I was hooked from the moment I began. I will have another post with more detail, but I will just say here that book is inspirational and exactly what I need as a new and eager Vegetarian (well, since July).

Wednesday: Surprises and Rain

Today was a very interesting day, and I had more than one surprise today. It is freezing and rainy, but I still went up to the school this morning for my math class and German class. In German today, we learned new vocabulary, and watched a short video on a Swiss rock climber. Then, my German teacher gave us a suggestion which I think is a wonderful idea. She suggested listening to a German radio station called Bayern 3, because it would be good for our vocabulary and they played good German and international music. When I returned home, I found it on the web and am listening to it right now. She was right. Listening to real people speak the language fluently is very good for my language skills. I love listening to their voices, their accent. It doesn't really matter that I don't catch everything they are saying.

Today I also received a package of pottery from my great aunt in North Carolina. I had made it when visiting in September, and I was so happy to get the finished works. Hopefully in the next couple days I can expand on a report I am writing of that week, and maybe post some of it on this blog.

 Later today, despite the wind and rain, I think I will go to the Varsity girls soccer team because they have a home game. I am their ball girl, so I get some exercise as well as watching them play, which is wonderful.

Claire

Pottery Pictures

 This first picture shows off the pendants I made using slip trailing on white clay.

 Here you can see some of the jewelry I tried making.

These are examples of stamps I made. I used both geometric and abstract ideas.

Pottery!

Today I received a wonderful surprise waiting outside my door when I got home from my German class! In the beginning of September, I spent a week studying pottery with my great aunt, who is a potter. Today, she sent me the rest of the pieces which she had fired after I left.

Some of my favorites include a box made of slabs with a heart theme, and a small bowl with the Swedish colors made using a press mold. Hopefully there will be more pictures coming soon, as well as a more complete description of my trip.

Opening the box was the best part. I was giggling and ripping open the package like it was Christmas in October! I focused more on the decorating aspect, and had a lot of fun experimenting with different clay and jewelry.

Claire

Tuesday: JFK and Chorus

Today was a merrily busy day where I believe I accomplished a lot. This morning, I had my math class, where we worked on graphing, and I finished my math homework. When I arrived home, I wrote a letter to my younger cousin for a school project of his. This included writing about my town's history, which tied in wonderfully with the history I have been learning about my town. I wrote on my poetry blog, and read about the Cuban missile crisis, including on a great new website which I found and wrote previous post on. Then I cleaned my guinea pig's cage and went to my German class back at the school.

The highlight of today was my first choir rehearsal with the Academy Chorus. They were beginning new music and I was allowed to join them. I know this will be a huge boost in my singing and music reading this year. Today, we started three songs, in three different languages. They are all Christmas songs, but there is one English, one African, and one Spanish song. Next rehearsal we will hopefully also be starting a song in Latin. This chorus is a huge step up from my previous one, but the challenge it making me a better singer and I love it already!

Claire

Cuban Missile Crisis Explained

Today, after spending some time reading a memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F. Kennedy, I found an interesting website that I hope to exploit more soon. The website comes out of the Presidential library, and has tons of information on "the closest the United States ever came to nuclear war." 

This website even contained clips from meetings held during the critical thirteen days, and it has really helped me to better understand this event, which was not very clear at the time when it happened. I think it is an excellent resource, and I will continue to learn from it in the next couple days. 

Write on Wednesdays

I want to take a moment now to explain a recent ritual that I have undertaken. This is Write on Wednesdays, a group of easily excited writers keen to share their works with one another.

I joined WoW several weeks ago, and have since then had a ton of fun writing short pieces from prompts every week. WoW is done through the blog www.inkpaperpen.blogspot.com and it is a wonderful way to improve your writing and have fun while doing it.

Claire

Monday: Flu Shots and SSAT

Alas, the first day of recording my actions is a little less impressive than I had hoped. Today was a day for busy work and things that needed to be done more than a day for hard core schooling. Weighted down with a long orthodontist appointment and a flu shot, I did not have as much time as usual to learn things. This morning, I set up this blog and read a little bit while waiting for the orthodontist.

I wrote poetry on my blog (www.quiltofdragonflies.blogspot.com), and read some other blog posts from Write on Wednesday, which is a weekly writing exercise that I participate in. With only about an hour of valuable time left, I began to review for the SSAT's with a new book I had just gotten. Today I worked on Analogies, Synonyms, and test taking skills. Hopefully in the coming weeks I will prepare enough to feel comfortable when I take the test in December.

And so ends the day. My mouth and arm is hurting from the various doctor's, I am tired, but I am ready and raring to go for tomorrow, where I hope to accomplish more than I did today.

Claire

Here We Go!

Hello everyone, my name is Claire, and I am making this year special. This year I will sing and laugh and read and write until my hands are cramped and my vision is blurry. This year I will learn what I want to learn, how I want to learn it. This year I will discover new worlds, and learn more about the one I am living in. This year I am living my dream...

I am in eighth grade this year, and I am being home schooled. More accurately, I am homeschooling myself. I have the opportunity to take two high school classes a year early, but other than that, I am on my own and loving every second of it. On this blog, I hope to keep records of what I am doing day to day, how I am going about this dream of a year. To anyone visiting, you are welcome to take a look at what I am doing this year, offer up any advice or criticism, ect.

I hope this year helps me discover myself and the people and places around me as I delve into a new style of learning. The year will be full of surprises and new knowledge, and whatever I do, I vow to have fun doing it! Here we go!

Claire