We were up and ready for the next adventure at school. Andrea decided to finish the chapter, on the transit. I knew the station changes by heart, so I could tell her when it was time to change. For the last train, we decided it was best to sit apart. Other students joined the train at that station. On our way out, I had advised security that Andrea would be staying with me for a while and that Sarah would be visiting. Andrea had the security code for the doors.

Everyone settled in and I passed out the tests. I was so pleased that everyone had made 100%, people had taken their time and concentrated on spelling.

Michelle's hand shot up, "Hey, I really like the purple this time, it's my favorite color, thanks."

There was very little to review so I suggested we get onto the next chapter. Today and for most of the week, they would be learning about bones and muscles.

"Who would like to tell me how many bones we have in our body?" I laughed at the antics of William and Ralph. William was holding up his right hand with two fingers, and his left hand- indicating a zero. Ralph had a five on one hand and one on the other.

"Okay, Ralph and William have it right. 206. How about we go over the bones from head to toe? And I don't need anyone doing a musical version. We will start at the left back corner."

I will have to admit that these guys and gals knew their bones. We made several trips up and down the rows to complete the tasks. Now of course, each area was covered in depth, for example the structure of a hand. I think that since some had made spelling mistakes on the first test, everyone was now making an effort to know the proper name and how to spell it. It was encouraging.

After lunch I picked random students to indicate where a certain bone was located and then explain its function. We discussed long bones, short bones, vertebrae and the fact that bones provided not only our support system but protection. I had them turn to chapter 32 to read, I gave them an hour to read it. Most would be done long before and I did realize that I was changing protocol slightly. But asked that they bear with me.

It was important that we covered the concerns, the diseases, the mishaps at this time. I had collected an enormous amount of chicken bones. They were meat free, cleaned and dried. I planned to have them break to investigate. By covering this chapter, they would also be able to determine the type of breaks.

After they were done reading. I once again went into random mode asking people to describe bones. What were the ends of the bones called? Were metacarpals big bones or little bone.?

At the end of class I suggested everyone reread Chapter 32. The chicken bones would be their surprise for tomorrow.

Andrea and I did a reversal of our transit trip. She chattered on the way home, wondering what her brothers were up to. She revealed that her mother worked five mornings a week from 9am to 1pm. She was a receptionist for a doctors' office and she split a shift with another worker who could not do full days. She enjoyed her job and two days a week she stayed until 3pm and did the filing. It gave the family extra income and they could visit the doctor anytime and not be billed. During school vacations the boys were now old enough to care for themselves, but when they were younger, they were allowed to attend to clinic day care at no cost. It was an ideal setup. Her mother hadn't gone to work until Andrea was in school.

When we got home I suggested that she should get caught up on her laundry, get her room organized to her liking, and perhaps do her reading while I started supper. Tonight, would be lasagna and salad.

The evening and the night were uneventful. All the tasks had been completed.

The dawn brought another day. I noticed that for the second day, she just had juice in the morning and didn't make a lunch, so I asked why.

"Well, I feel a little guilty about staying here and not really paying my way. So, I have the juice because you already poured it and I grab a bag of chips for lunch."

I was so surprised.

"Okay, first, I invited you to stay for your safety. Second, part of that safety includes your health, eating is part of being healthy. And third, it is nice to have company. Since you are concerned, how about I give you some chores in lieu of paying?"

"That sounds workable, what do you want me to do?"

"After breakfast we can talk about it on the ride to school. Scrambled eggs and toast, while I am scrambling you can make a couple of sandwiches for lunch. And don't you dare ask me what kind, surprise me."

On the ride, I suggested that she keep her room clean, do her own laundry, make the lunches for school, vacuum and dust the condo once a week except for my room. I also offered to teach her to cook both simple and fancy but, cost effective meals. She readily agreed.

At school we both enjoyed a cup of coffee, it didn't make sense to make it at home, except on weekends.

Class started with me asking what some of the diseases were, in regards, to the skeletal system or bones. Several answers were offered.

I got out my pail, my rather large pail of bones. I had a smaller one too, which had been specially prepared, but every bone was clean and dry.

"As I walk around, I want each student to take three or four bones. Until I am done, I just want you to look at them, feel them and think of words to describe them."

For the next half hour, I watched them examine the bones. Then they shared comments to describe them. Words like strong, white, yellow, rubbery were used.

"Bones tend to be strong to provide our frame. Think about how much you weigh and that your bones in your legs and feet support that weight. They are yellow or white depending on how old they are, how they have been cleaned and even how they have been abused over time. Being rubbery is partially about their formation or how old they were when I got them and possibly because instead of solid bone they are cartilage. Your ears and the tips of your noses are cartilage. Good observations. Now try to determine the source of the bones. They are all chicken bones, but are they part of a wing or a thigh?"

It was indeed interesting to watch them study each bone. Some had a nice mixture, whereas others had either wing or thigh bones. They quickly thought of sharing and small groups formed. Another excellent aspect of critical thinking.

I allowed each group to pick a team leader to explain what type of bone and why they as a group made that decision. The answers were well formulated. The only group, who got anything wrong, was the one who unfortunately had the bone from a rather large chicken and they identified it as a thigh when it was really a wing bone.

I excused them for lunch. Our ham and cheese sandwiches were a delight and a surprise. I never thought to add just a hint of jam.

When they came back, feeling revived and refreshed, they were each instructed to break one of their bones by snapping it in half, smash one with their book and twist one until it broke. Some were just to weak to be successful but other students came forward to assist.

When this task was done, we investigate bone marrow and reviewed its purpose. Then we discussed each of the break or fracture types. The final adventure with bones was the smaller pail. Each person took one. They were very white and easily broken. There was no marrow to be found. I explained that these bones had been cleaned, dried with a cloth then baked to further dry and in doing so I had dried up the marrow.

Class for another day was done. Tomorrow's plan was to start with muscles and then the next day would be joints.