Weekly Wrap-Up

This was a total World War II—and little else—week for us. We started off on Monday by going to the Tennessee Museum of Aviation. I posted all about this fantastic trip here. The rest of the week mostly consisted of reading and watching movies. Duncan was not feeling well for a couple of days, so figured it was the perfect week for lounging on the couch.

We started with Hidden in Silence. W-o-w. What an incredible movie. The next day Duncan said, "I could watch that movie all over again." This is the true story of 16-year-old Stefania Podgórska (Fuzia in the movie)and her six-year-old sister, Helena, who hide 13 Jewish men, women, and children in their attic during the Holocaust—for 2 1/2 years. There are some very disturbing scenes; at times I wasn't sure Duncan, age 12, was ready for this movie. But the movie was so excellent and the story so beautiful. I highly recommend it for anyone studying WWII—or just as an amazing example of what extraordinary things that ordinary people can do.

The rest of the week we have been making our way through the amazing documentary by Ken Burns, The War. This series is so extraordinary. We're both learning so much, and we have hours left to go on it.

Sometimes it is hard for me to sit and watch movies for school, but I certainly can't deny that these are incredibly valuable learning tools.

Laurel's co-op classes have all resumed, so she's been working hard again this week. She's reading The Crucible for my American Lit class. I assigned the students quite a bit of background reading on the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism, and then I had them write an expository essay about a modern-day witchhunt (since 1900). I look forward to reading what they cane up with.

All of our co-op classes resume on Monday. I'm only teaching one class besides my American Lit class—a literature circle for middle schoolers. Our theme is "classic journeys," and we'll be reading The Odyssey, The Canterbury Tales, and Alice in Wonderland. Besides that, Duncan is taking a class called Dialogue with Veterans (my Dad will come in to talk about WWII) and pre-algebra.

Today we mostly took a snow day. Absolutely everything, including University of TN, where my husband teaches, was shut down because of an ice storm. We had a lovely ice day!

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