Friday Faces: Little Wonders

Congratulations, you made it! We are officially on winter break. What do these three weeks have in store for you? Perhaps catching up on some Down Home Blog posts? Well, we’ve got a fun one for you today. Our Friday Faces series continues. We are featuring our wonderous Little Wonders staff. These ladies work hard with our preschool, Jr. Kindergarten and Kindergarten. So, take a breath, grab some eggnog or whatever sort of festive drink you prefer and settle in to enjoy getting to know a few more of our amazing staff.

Be sure to read to the end of the post for a few acknowledgments and announcements.

*Michele Bruntz was featured in Friday Faces: More New Staff. Check out it to learn more about Mrs. Bruntz and other new SLOCA staff. 

What was your favorite book as a child? (And tell us why.)

• Sarah: Charlotte’s Web. My second-grade teacher read it aloud to us and gave each of us our own spider rings. I fell in love with the story and just remember it feeling like such a magical time when Mrs. Scott would read to us. To this day it’s still my favorite!
• Margot: Little House on the Prairie and The Boxcar Children were some of my favorites. My mom spent a lot of time reading out loud to me and my sister. It seems like I tended to like books about children being independent, and sometimes mysteries. Once I read on my own more, I was obsessed with the Nancy Drew series.
• Tiffany: One Fish Two Fish because those fish are just crazy looking!
• Amy: Stand Back, Said the Elephant, I’m Going to Sneeze! I always thought it was funny!
• Jessica: How Fletcher Was Hatched by Wende and Harry Devlin. I cannot remember why this was my favorite book, but I do remember that it lingered in the back of my noggin for years! I think it was the illustrations that really struck me and the giant pink and brown egg that Fletcher, the dog, jumped out of.
• Heidi: The House That Had Enough by P. E. King – Whenever I read it (or when it was read to me), it made me want to take care of all my things! I was a little worried my belongings would come alive and I didn’t want them to be mad at me. Hahaha!
• Karen: I had two favorite books as a child. They were Madeline books as well as the Babar books.

How are you implementing Less. But Better this year and how is it going?

• Sarah: To be totally honest and vulnerable that’s a really complicated question for me and at this point, I don’t yet have an answer.
• Margot: This is my second year developing a zero-waste classroom – cloth hand towels, rags, reusable wipes, silverware, composting and recycling. It’s going really well! The kids love taking out the compost, and figuring out what is recyclable. They even decided on their own to start using old recycled junk like cardboard boxes and applesauce containers for art projects! This year I’ve noticed more parents from my class are starting to implement this too, using reusable containers in their children’s lunchboxes instead of Ziploc baggies. It’s awesome!
• Tiffany: I’m working on my closet. I’m still working on it.
• Amy: I’m still working on that.
• Jessica: I’ve been taking a less but better approach in the classroom for a few years now. It may not look like it, but the less we work to control the learning environment, the better the learning is. In my home life, the mr.a-go-go (all lowercase, yes) and I have been in the trenches of less but better for years (you should see our camping get-up). My thesis paper back in college was about Voluntary Simplicity. I’m all for it, and as always, inspired by my guy, Walt Whitman.
• Heidi: My family and I live in a 600 square foot house, so less is always better! Otherwise, I haven’t implemented much different than we already do. One thing we are trying to do is purchase quality products (made in the USA, if available) over the cheapest price. Better quality lasts longer so we have less repeated purchases.
• Karen: I am not responding to every need that comes my way. I find that I have been sleeping much better as a result.

What’s something you like to do the old-fashioned way?

• Sarah: I love to keep track of my plans in a paper organizer. Digital planners do not support the way my brain works. Organizing my plans with colored pens on paper fills my heart with joy.
• Margot: Forever and always a book person. No reading on a Kindle or iPad for me, it’s not the same as a real book – the physical book that you can hold and underline things in. And the way old books from the library smell!
• Tiffany: Make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
• Amy: Make my own sourdough bread.
• Jessica: I hand grind my coffee beans every morning. It doesn’t take long and I can dance about the kitchen as I switch off which hand will do the winding movement. It’s a bit like patting one’s head whilst rubbing one’s belly.
• Heidi: EVERYTHING! We are very fascinated by anything vintage, so we love the old-fashioned way of life. We have a 1961 trailer that we love to camp in, and we never watch movies or play on electronics when we camp. I also cook on a Wedgewood stove from the 50’s, love to wear vintage clothes, we enjoy listening to records, love restoring vintage furniture pieces, and really anything involving old-fashioned anything! Oh, and I love drying my sheets and towels on a clothesline.
• Karen: I like to cook from scratch, but I hear from my oldest son that nobody sits down to eat dinner together these days.

What is your favorite restaurant on the Central Coast & what do you order there?

• Sarah: Giuseppe’s Italian Restaurant in Pismo Beach. My favorites are the Roasted Beet Salad and their Ravioli di Zucca.
• Margot: Thai Classic in SLO has really good food. They have a huge menu, but I usually get some sort of curry or noodles.
• Tiffany: Frankie and Lola’s, the PZP (potato zucchini pancake).
• Amy: My husband and I just shared a lunch special at Guiseppe’s, and it is our new favorite!
• Jessica: Being all in a less but better lifestyle, we prefer a home-cooked meal. Some of the best meals we have had were culled from a sad pantry and enjoyed with friends or family, with lively conversation and a round or two of Exquisite Corpse. When the budget allows, we hit up Taco Temple for their Baja Tacos or Noi and Doi’s 2nd Street Cafe for the most fragrant of bites.
• Heidi: Umi Sushi in Grover Beach is one of my all-time favorites (I’ve been going since I was in high school!). The Los Osos roll is amazing, Hot-Taki tuna, or the Oceano Salad! All my favorites.
• Karen: I am open to suggestions for a restaurant that serves great sashimi.

Aren’t Friday Faces so fun? We hope this post has been the perfect start to your winter break.

A big thank you to our school photographer Cameron Ingalls for these fabulous photos.

Also — Congratulations to Stephanie Ridley, our winner of the Zip-Up Hoodie!!! Thank you for your contributions. We are still looking for more photos and ideas for how you organize your homeschool materials. Please contact [email protected] or simply post a comment with your ideas.

Lastly, Down Home will be taking a break as well. However, keep an eye out for a few special posts over the next few weeks.  We hope this time away from school is refreshing and relaxing for you and your family!!!