The Ups and the Downs

We are a month into the new school year, and six months into our pandemic quarantine. All things considered, things are going well. Emily's experience with being the only kid in her class that is attending school online has been hit or miss. With the teachers that are online, everything runs smoothly. With the teachers that are in-person, things get a little trickier. There have been multiple times where I have had to call the school to remind them to let her into the Zoom session, etc. 

As for her work, she has been doing great. She is on top of everything and seems to have no problems with the material. They took a diagnostic reading test at the beginning of the year and her reading level is very high. I was concerned that it would drop off over the summer, but apparently it did not. 

We are currently working on a book called Hounds Hollow. It is a spooky sort of a book, so it has definitely kept her interest. A favorite that we read not long ago was Alice in Wonderland. Emily really liked it. After reading the book, she and her friend watched the animated version together (over FaceTime) and she liked that, too. Her other obsession is with Gravity Falls. This is a TV show that she has loved for a long time, but she now has books that go along with the show and she loves those, too.

FaceTime with Grandma

Socially, the new school year has been hard because the other kids get their fill of interaction during the day, so they are less interested in FaceTime in the afternoons. Although she gets some calls with friends, she also takes advantage of calls with Grandma at least once a week. When Emily isn't talking to friends or family, she keeps herself busy with her drawing. She has been really interested in trying out different styles of drawing. She borrows from styles like anime and then creates her own characters. Here are a couple that I have been able to snag photos of:

Emily's art teacher at school has recognized her interest in creating new characters and has decided to customize her class requirements so that Emily can do more of what she loves. Emily is really happy about this. She also keeps asking me for private art lessons. I haven't set anything up yet, but I know that I need to. 

Other than art, we have also tried our hand at recreating Emily's favorite treat from Starbucks - lemon bread. We found a recipe that claimed to be a dead ringer for the original and we gave it a try. It was definitely good, but also not a perfect substitute for the original.

We are also back to violin this fall. After taking a break over the summer we are back to Skype lessons and Emily is making her way through Suzuki Book 1. She is currently working on Minuet III. After that, I believe that there are only two pieces left before she graduates to Book 2. 

Looking ahead, Emily is very excited about Halloween. Apparently, this is her favorite holiday of the year. This year is particularly good because it falls on a Saturday with a full moon. That said, I doubt that we will be attending the usual neighborhood party this year. We will have to see what we can come up with to make it fun.