Homeschool Wrap Up...Apples and Writing

This is a bit late in posting, but here it is. We looked at apples this week and had fun with paint...

I got this cute letter matching game from here.
Jie Jie worked on this, but I found that her attention
span is something we need to lengthen. Reminding
myself that this is normal since we haven't had
"school" all summer. Retrain the brain. 

Counting. I drew very simple trees and put
apples on them and had her count them. Great
thing is that she gets 1-3 at 100%, so now I know
I need to challenge her with higher numbers. 

Writing. This was totally on her own. I
didn't even have my hand over hers. Still
needs work, but I'm seeing progress. We'll
work on more letters next week.

Japanese make the BEST stickers. I found
these at a stationary store so we could make...

...an apple counting book. She had to put
the stickers on the tree for each page.
We will cut the pages out and staple them.

Since the other two were home, Mei Mei
joined in the painting fun. I drew a simple
outline of a tree. They painted it in and added
apples by using their fingertips. We did this
in watercolor paints. (The lion outfits, are just
because they wanted to wear them...)

 My other two are on fall break this week. We will be doing some school work, but probably not as much as we would if they were in school. We plan to visit the zoo, go the beach, and some other fun things that can be "learning," too. 

How Will You Honor Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs died today.

I'm sure you have heard the news. It is probably the highest buzz on the social media right now. Everyone is in shock. Many want to pay tribute by posting his quotes, writing about him and his life work, and even going out to buy 1 or 2 iPhones in his honor.

The last one bothers me.

Who needs two iPhones? Really?

Okay, I'm right up there with thankfulness on the blessings of having any of Apple's i(whatever). The iPad has been really helpful with our daughter with special needs. She has a new way of communicating that is affordable to us. I could go on and tell you all the wonderful things that the i(fill in the blank) has been to us personally, but that is not what this is about.

When I read about people going out to buy an iPhone in his honor, I couldn't help but wonder if he'd really be pleased with that. From that question I wondered about what charity he was passionate about. I was surprised to find that he doesn't publicly donate. My mouth dropped, but I did some more digging, so don't judge yet because here is what I did find:
1. It's possible that he donated anonymously. His wife is on boards of a few nonprofit organizations. You can read more about that in this article by Andrew Ross Solkin.
2. Bono argued in a letter to the editor that Steve Jobs did give through Product Red. You can read about that in this article here.
3. Apple is a part of Product Red. Portions of all (Product)RED special edition iPod Nanos and iTune cards are given to Global Fund to help fund AIDS programs in Africa.  For more information on this part of Apple giving click here.

So, Steve Jobs did give.
So, back to my question of "Would he be pleased with people buying his products in honor of him?"

I'm not convinced that he would. From reading articles about him, I've gathered that he would love for you to buy the products to help you in your work and life, but not to honor him.
So, I'm challenging you with this: Wouldn't it be better to buy an i(fill in the blank) for someone that really needs it? Maybe a low income school could use a few iPads in the special ed department. Or maybe a community center could use some to help draw kids off of the streets. These are seriously at the top of my head and may seem lame, but think outside the box. Who could use one? If you don't have any ideas, there is an organization called Computers with Causes. Yes, you can donate a used or new iPad to them.

My point? Why honor someone by buying for yourself? Why not honor someone buy buying for someone that maybe wouldn't be able to buy it in the first place. (and I'm not talking about your 1-year old child, either. *grinning*)

RIP Steve Jobs!
Thanks for giving to the workplace, to entertainment, to the family, and to schools!