Jack Lately

I really need to do a better job of just blogging about the little things the kids are up to because they add up - and change! - so fast!  I've been adding to Jack's list for a little while and it's pretty long now.  Here we go...

Jack has done a good job of maintaining As and Bs this term (after a bit of a rocky first half of the year during which if he had any grades slip down to a C he'd lose screen time until the grade went up again).  I feel like he respects the rules and process at home and he's also in a better groove at school.  His Latin teacher copied me on this email to Jack a little while ago: "I just wanted to say thanks for your participation this week in Latin class. We went over some hard stuff this week, and you were very engaged the whole week, and I feel like you were one of the students who understood best what was going on. Thanks for always being willing to participate in class and answer questions!"

We found out recently that everyone will be at school for the full day Monday-Thursday beginning at the last term, with Fridays being used as advisory days.  It will be a bit of a shock for everyone, but I'm hoping it won't be too hard on Jack.  

Jack has been expressing his creativity in a few different ways lately.  At the beginning of the year he was really into drawing (photos coming later), and during a brief obsession with the Monsterverse (King Kong + Godzilla) he began writing a new book called Monster Island: Legend of the Idol.  He shared it with his English teacher, who gave him some feedback and said, "Hey! I read what you have so far, good work bud!  Let me know when you get more done, I look forward to reading it!"

Another creative outlet for Jack has been finding and creating his own memes, and putting them together in themed slideshows.  This is one he came up with on his own:

His creativity got the better of him during a recent history assignment to research a historical figure and put together a slideshow about him/her.  His rough draft was was heavy on cartoon images and exclamation marks and light on research and insight, so I spent some time with him to turn it into a scholarly presentation (with some personality - if not as much as he started with).

(we didn't keep the original title slide but this is a close recreation)

(the title slide for the presentation he turned in)

Jack auditioned for the school's spring musical: "Romeo and Juliet: Love is a Battlefield."  It will use the original Shakespeare text but add in 80's musical numbers, and the costumes will be inspired by 80's fashion.  Jack is in a couple of the ensemble groups and he's enjoying it so far.  I'm excited to see the performance!

Jack has gotten into Wings of Fire again and even started a WoF book club.  He invited a few friends from school to meet him on Friday to discuss the first part of the first book and do a few activities that he put together, but nobody was able to come that day.  Fingers crossed that he has better luck this week!

When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, Jack said he wants to be a farmer, an author, and a marine biologist.  Not that he's narrowed it down to those three options.  He wants to do all three.  Yes, he's planning to live in Florida.

We were out shoveling/snowblowing after a storm
last month and I asked Jack to shovel our elderly neighbor's
sidewalk and he did it without any whining or complaining.

Jack got this cool Chia Pet for Christmas and we were
all excited to see how it would look.  It was a bit of a tricky
endeavor to get the chia seeds to stick to the straight back of
the pod, but it turned out great!

Isn't it cute?  Now we need to start again!

Jack is officially into Legos again.  He's been working for several days
to put together a set that has been disassembled for a long time.
So far we've found most of the pieces...

Jack used to hate the dentist - even just cleanings.  But he's doing so much
better now and didn't even need to be coerced to go in for work last week!
(Pic taken after he got two fillings on opposite sides of his mouth,
enjoying the wonders of numbness not wearing off quickly enough.)

Jack was waiting for a work area in his room for a little while and was
disappointed when Luke's Area 23 was set up first.  But soon after, I found
this great desk and chair on Facebook Marketplace and we got Jack's
workspace set up.  He helped me add the leather pulls to the drawers and plan
out and make the shelves.  I surprised him with the magnetic
board and fun people-magnets.