Opening Statement: So, here's something new, a novella style story... what's that you ask? Well, it's essentially a story based within a pre-existing story. An example of this is if anyone ever saw that Bambi movie which showed how Bambi was raised by his father. That entire animated film was set directly after the unfortunate moment when Bambi's mother was shot, and transpired from there to when we, in the first original film, saw Bambi all grown up... and now you can't say I didn't teach you something. Anyway, the whole point of that explanation was to make sure I didn't confuse anyone, as this is set in the time where Simon and Jeanette were tasked with home schooling Sandra. Also, I shouldn't have to clarify this, but just in case you haven't read the latest chapters of "Honeymoon In The Snow", whenever dialogue is written like this it's when Sandra is signing her words.

Disclaimer: AATC belongs to Ross B. and Fox Studios, and the OC of Sandra Seville belongs to me... I'm only going to be mentioning the others by name, and Sandra's classes are for her alone, the rest of her siblings learn the Sign Language alphabet later.

Class is in Session.

Simon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Alvin, I know you find me and my mate smart, but don't you think we have lives outside of information?" Simon asked, his red clad brother chuckling a bit before giving Simon a hopeful smile, "Please Si, you know I wouldn't ask this of you and Jeanette if not for Sandra, you've seen how fast she picks up on things... she needs to be in a school environment." Alvin explained, Simon grumbling a bit and about to say something, when Jeanette placed her hand on his shoulder and drew his attention, "Simon, you taught Sandra before... and I remember how happy you were when Sandra started to "speak" for herself without your encouragement," Jeanette said, Simon gazing into his mate's violet eyes and letting out a sigh, "Fine... we'll set up some classes for Sandra to attend... she'll be treated in the same regard as any other student in an actual school system, she'll have recess, lunch, then be allowed to do her own homework... and if she misses an assignment she'll be reprimanded for it," Simon explained, Alvin giving his brother a confused glance before Jeanette rolled her eyes and translated what Simon had said, "Your daughter will be given the same treatment as any other student, that includes praise and punishment... as much as I'd hate to punish the sweetheart, if she does anything to disrupt her classes, she'll be punished for it. Nothing major, just a simple time out," Jeanette explained, Alvin sighing and nodding his understanding. A few hours passed and already Simon had set up a basic curriculum, including subjects like mathematics, science, history, and just as a test music lessons.

The next day, when Sandra woke up, she was surprised to find her father getting out a nice t-shirt for her, tapping on his side to gain his attention before gesturing in her only form of speech, "What are you doing Daddy? Why am I being dressed this soon?" Sandra asked, Alvin smiling before slipping her into the shirt and kneeling to be eye-level with her, "I have a surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes... and no peeking!" Alvin replied, Sandra tilting her head but otherwise doing as she was told. She then felt herself lifted into her father's strong arms, and carried out of the room, then heard a door open and sensed a general decent down some stairs, at which point Sandra was set down into what felt like a chair, "Okay Sandy, open your eyes," Alvin said, Sandra opening her hazel eyes and silently gasping at what she saw.

Currently, she was sitting at a chipmunk sized desk, with appropriately sized notebook and pencil, and looking forward she saw her Uncle Simon and Aunt Jeanette, both wearing rather formal outfits, Simon in a black suit blazer with a blue undershirt, while Jeanette was in a deep violet dress skirt and blazer of her own, with a white undershirt, Simon standing at a desk a bit further away, approximately the same distance away as a typical teacher's desk would be in a classroom, if it were scaled down to chipmunk size. Straight ahead of her was a small white board, an assortment of different colored dry-erase markers lining the rack on the bottom of the board, this whole sight bringing a look of awe to Sandra's face, Alvin noticing this and placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "You like it? I arranged for your Aunt and Uncle to home school you for a bit... at least until you're ready for school proper." Alvin explained, Sandra smiling widely before signing her response, "I honestly... I don't know what to say... thank you Daddy," Sandra replied, soon afterwards hugging Alvin and placing a kiss to his cheek, Jeanette soon walking over and splitting Alvin and Sandra apart, "Okay Sandy, as much as this scene is adorable to watch, we need to get started... Alvin, leave." Jeanette said, Simon rushing over and chuckling nervously, "What my mate means is you'll pose more of a distraction to Sandra if you stay, in order to be in a proper school environment she'll need as few distractions as possible." Simon explained, his red clad brother nodding in agreement before kneeling to address Sandra again, "Okay sweetheart, I have to go now, you be good... and try not to drive your Aunt and Uncle too crazy, okay." Alvin asked, Sandra nodding and offering a thumbs up before Alvin rushed up the basement stairs.

(first lesson, Math)

Simon walked over and handed Sandra a few sheets of paper, "Okay Sandra, I'm going to try and show you math, just the basics though, addition and subtraction, if you get through that easily enough, then I may toss in a few multiplication questions into the mix... you understand Sandra?" Simon asked, his eldest niece nodding before gesturing away, "You got it dude!" Sandra said, before offering a thumbs up to her uncle and smiling, Simon shaking his head a bit at the choice of words, "This is going to be interesting," Simon thought to himself, before he stood back up and walked over to the white board and took one of the markers into his hand, writing out a simple equation on the board, "1+1=2" Simon wrote, just as a basic starting point to give Sandra a small level of understanding.

A few minutes later, Simon was beyond impressed, Sandra had flown through the first math lesson of her home schooling, going all the way up to adding double digits and subtracting large numbers from smaller ones... she even managed to get the hang of triple digit multiplications, so as a final test due to how fast Sandra was blowing through the curriculum, Simon wrote a division question on the board. The equation was simple at a glance, fifty divided by two, the answer would be twenty-five, but when Simon glanced at his niece he was shocked to find her... struggling. Jeanette noticed this and stepped over to her niece, kneeling down and looking at her paper, "Having trouble Sandra?" Jeanette asked, Sandra looking over and then shaking her head, having inherited her father's pride among other things and making Jeanette roll her eyes lightly, "Sandy, I know you're a proud chipette, but it's okay to ask for help if you need to," Jeanette explained, Sandra sighing silently before gesturing her problem.

"I have no idea what THAT symbol is... it looks like a subtraction symbol only with a dot above and below it... WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?" Sandra said, Jeanette giggling softly before taking a pencil from behind her ear, drawing out the equation on the sheet, "Look, it's similar to subtraction, you're taking something away from the main number, in this case fifty." Jeanette explained, Sandra nodding in understanding before her aunt moved onto the next part, "Only thing that's different is instead of only taking away two from fifty, we're finding out what half of fifty is." Jeanette explained, Sandra tilting her head in confusion before gesturing with her right hand, "Okay, you lost me... what?" Sandra said, Jeanette giggling before guiding Sandra through the problem.

"Look, you have fifty as the whole number, and you're cutting it in half... it's similar to multiplication, we're going to find out how many times the number two goes into the number fifty." Jeanette explained, Sandra shaking her head and gesturing like crazy, "You just said it's like subtraction, and now it follows rules of multiplication? Make up your mind Aunt Jeanette!" Sandra said, Jeanette sighing to herself, "Alvin's pride and Brittany's patience... what a combo." Jeanette thought, before she continued her explanation, meanwhile Simon simply observing, and trying his hardest not to laugh... it was unprofessional to laugh in a class, even if that class was in the basement of the student's own home.

"Okay, first, how many times does two, go into zero?" Jeanette asked, Sandra thinking a moment before writing out a zero on the paper, "That's right, but it's not what we go with... see in order to properly divide fifty, we need to take one away from the five, carry it over to the zero, and change the zero into a ten," Jeanette explained, Sandra looking the paper over and then giving her uncle a hopeful look, as if to ask if her aunt was being serious, Simon chuckling lightly, "Sorry Sandra, but your aunt is correct, listen to her and you'll understand," Simon replied, answering Sandra's unspoken question, even while Jeanette drew her attention back to the problem at hand, "Okay, so we got ten now, how many times does two go into ten?" Jeanette asked, Sandra thinking it over before she wrote down a five, then started gesturing, "Is that it? Are we done now?" Sandra asked, Jeanette shaking her head with a smile on her face, "No, not yet anyways, we still have our other number to deal with, and since we took one away from the five, it turned into a four, so how many times does two go into four?" Jeanette asked, Sandra giving her aunt a flat look before she wrote down a two, placing it next to the five from before, "Alright, now what did you end up with?" Jeanette asked, Sandra looking at her paper and raising an eyebrow, reading out her own work and silently gasping at the new information she just learned, before signing her response, "Twenty-five! Two goes into fifty, twenty-five times!" Sandra replied proudly, just as Simon rang a bell on his desk, "Okay, math class is over... now you get to take a five minute break before we start up on science." Simon explained, Sandra slumping down onto her desk before gesturing a bit, "FINALLY! MATH SUCKS!" Sandra said, Jeanette letting a genuine laugh out as Sandra got up and went to leave, only for Simon to tap his desk, "I didn't say school was over, you only get five minutes, so even if you could go up the stairs in time, you'd just have to come right back... sorry Sandy, but that's just how things work for now." Simon explained, Sandra's ears folding back as she stared forlornly up the basement stairs, Jeanette then taking out her phone and face-timing with Alvin, "Hey Jean, why are you using the face-time thingy?" Alvin asked, before Jeanette turned the phone to face Sandra, "Your daughter misses you, she has five minutes and really wants to tell you about her day so far." Jeanette explained, as Sandra looked over and smiled at her father's face on the phone screen, already dropping into a conversation with her father, this going on for the full five minutes before Jeanette took the phone and ended the call, "Okay, time for the next class." she explained, Sandra sighing silently before nodding her head.

(second class, Science)

"Okay, Sandra this is Science, and we're going to be covering chemical reactions," Simon explained, Sandra raising her hand, "What's your question Sandy?" Simon asked, Sandra immediately gesturing away, "I really have to use the washroom Uncle Simon, may I please go?" Sandra asked, Simon rolling his eyes while Jeanette giggled to herself, "Yes... go relieve yourself... Jeanette, please show our student to the washroom," Simon replied, Jeanette guiding Sandra to the basement washroom while Simon went over the lesson he had planned, simply to make sure he didn't miss anything while penning it down at first.

Sandra then returned and retook her seat, tail wagging behind her as she waited for her uncle to resume the lesson, Jeanette returning shortly after. "Okay, as I was explaining, a chemical reaction is what happens when two or more chemical substances are mixed together... to demonstrate, I want you to come forward and pour this vinegar into the bowl of baking soda," Simon said, gesturing to the table and revealing a rudimentary chemical station, rubber gloves, goggles and even a vapour shield set up to simulate an actual lab, Sandra getting up and reaching for the small glass beaker of clear liquid before Simon grabbed her wrist, a silent yelp loosing from her lips before she looked up at her uncle, the blue clad chipmunk wearing a soft scowl on his face, "If you want to work with this kind of stuff, you need proper protection, put on the gloves and goggles FIRST!" Simon said sternly, Sandra folding her ears back and curling her tail between her legs a bit, Simon softening up his expression and kneeling down to his niece, "Look, I'm sorry if I seem a bit harsh, but I only act this way to keep you safe... you need to know the rules to handle chemicals before you just grab a vial and throw it at the wall... okay Sandy?" Simon asked, Sandra sniffing a bit before nodding, her uncle pulling a tissue out of his pocket and gently wiping Sandra's eyes, "Okay, now go on and get your gear on, otherwise you won't get to see the cool part," Simon explained, Sandra's face lightening up and she immediately put the gloves and goggles onto herself, looking to her uncle and giving a thumbs up.

"Alright, pour the contents of the beaker into the bowl please." Simon explained, Sandra nodding and doing as she was asked, then silently yelping and hiding behind her uncle when the vinegar made the baking soda foam up like crazy, to the point of over flowing out of the bowl containing it, Simon chuckling and patting his niece's head, "It's okay Sandra, what's happening is a chemical reaction between the acetic acid of the vinegar and the sodium bicarbonate of the baking soda... think of it as a math problem with multiple answers, all of which are correct." Simon explained, Sandra approaching the foam and poking it, before she did as any child would do and tasted it, only to sputter her tongue and shake her head, glaring at Simon and gesturing like crazy, "Could've warned me it didn't taste good!" Sandra said, Simon chuckling before shaking his head, "I've learned from experience with your father that even a warning won't deter you, but anyways, this reaction produced three by-products, water, carbon dioxide gas, and sodium acetate... which can be used to do something very cool, Jeanette, please bring in that batch of "hot ice" for me," Simon said, Sandra giving her uncle a confused glance before gesturing a little, "What? How can ice be hot?" Sandra asked, Simon chuckling while Jeanette brought over a glass jar filled with a clear liquid, "It's called "hot ice" because of a neat little trick you can do with it... go on, stick your finger into the jar and watch," Simon said, Sandra looking at the jar and then slowly easing her finger into the liquid, once again silently yelping as a white crystal started to form at her fingertip and, quickly spreading through the entire jar and making it turn solid, Sandra's eyes wide in amazement at this event, Simon chuckling before he snapped his fingers to gain Sandra's attention, "Don't be too amazed, it's what happens with super cooled sodium acetate... so no, I didn't get Great Granpa Silas to come in here and whip up a magic spell for me. This was pure science in it's entirety," Simon explained, Sandra taking a bit if the "ice" from the jar and about to taste it too, only to have Simon grab her hand and take the chunk away, "No... that wasn't made with baking soda and vinegar, that was made with the pure chemicals and could have made you very sick... another rule to follow in any chemical lab is to NEVER eat or drink anything out of the beakers and jars, it could hurt or even kill you... you understand Sandra?" Simon asked, the hazel eyes chipette nodding and silently giggling a bit. At that point, Jeanette rang the bell again, "Okay, Science is over, and now you get an hour before your next class to go and play, eat your lunch, and just generally relax... but before you go, be warned, if you're late getting back to class, you'll be punished." Jeanette explained, Sandra's ears folding before she gestured a bit, "But... I'm your niece-"

"And for that reason your punishment won't be too harsh, but if you're late you will be punished. So please don't be late for class... Simon and I don't want to have to punish you, but we will if we must," Jeanette explained, Sandra sighing silently and nodding her head, Jeanette pulling her niece into a hug. "Go on sweetheart, go play," Jeanette said, Sandra rubbing her cheek against her aunt's before placing an affectionate kiss on that same cheek, dashing away up the stairs to go and play.

(Lunch hour)

Sandra hopped up onto the counter in the kitchen, trying to find her mother's stash of cookies for a light snack and quickly pinpointing the source in the bread box, taking a single cookie and closing the box to walk over to the table... but not without looking at her reflection in the toaster. Just like her mother, Sandra prided herself on how she looked, after all Daddy was always telling her how she was as beautiful as Mommy, and Mommy was down right divine in her beauty as far as Sandra was concerned. For that reason, Sandra spent about ten minutes of her lunch hour fixing her hair, mainly making sure the ponytail was in the proper place. After that, she finished her cookie and then made her way into the living room, finding her younger siblings all watching cartoons on the couch, though upon seeing their sister for the first time today, they swarmed Sandra like bees on a flower patch, "Sandra! Where were you!" Kevin asked, hugging Sandra tightly as she started to gesture her response, "I was with Uncle Simon and Aunt Jeanette, they are teaching me like I was in school." Sandra replied, before being dragged onto the couch to watch cartoons with them, sitting between Jade and Kendra, all of them watching an episode of "Spongebob Squarepants".

After the episode ended, Sandra looked at the clock, silently gasping before rushing off, the clock reading that she was late to get back to class, and not wanting to be punished Sandra tried to make it back before her uncle and aunt noticed... and failed miserably, folding her ears back at the faces she got from Simon and Jeanette, "Sandra... didn't we tell you NOT to be late for class?" Simon asked, Sandra folding her ears back and gesturing her response, "I'm so sorry for being late... my brothers and sisters missed me and wanted me to watch cartoons with them... and I lost track of time." Sandra explained, Simon shaking his head and pointing to a corner, a stool in it with a sign on the wall reading "Time Out Corner" on it, Sandra gasping silently before raising her hands to make an argument, only to have Jeanette gently take hold of her hands, sighing sadly before kneeling to be eye level with her niece, "Sandra, as much as we love you, you need to learn to follow directions... we realize this was an accident, which is why you'll be in time out for only five minutes as opposed to ten, okay?" Jeanette explained, biting her lip upon seeing a single silent tear drop from her niece's eye, even as the voiceless chipette nodded and slowly made her way to the stool, hopping up and then covering her eyes with her paws.

Jeanette wanted nothing more in this moment than to walk over and tell her niece it would be okay, but Simon stopped her in her tracks, "Dear, we need to be strong, yes she's our niece and she's obviously upset about being punished... but if she doesn't learn now, she never will." Simon explained, Jeanette sighing and nodding her head, "Yeah... doesn't make it any easier to watch her cry though," Jeanette replied, Simon shaking his head and then leaning in to whisper into his mate's ear, "Why do you think I haven't turned to look at her at all?" Simon asked, before looking at the clock and then ringing the bell, "Okay Sandy, your time out is over, you may take your seat." Simon said, hearing Sandra hop off of the stool and slowly make her way to her desk, Simon handing her a tissue to clean up with.

(third class, History)

"Okay, for history, we're covering the "Battle of Thermopylae", which occurred in the year 480 BCE and lasted over three days," Jeanette explained, Sandra raising an eyebrow before gesturing a bit, "Isn't that what that movie "300" is based on?" Sandra asked, Jeanette's eyes widening a bit before she nodded her head, "Yes, that film and its sequel "300: Rise of an Empire" were based on this single event, and though dramatized considerably, both were pretty accurate to the actual battle... though as far as we know, King Leonidas never kicked an emissary of Xerxes into a bottomless pit while shouting "THIS IS SPARTA!"." Jeanette replied, Simon raising an eyebrow from his desk while going over the final lesson for Sandra, "Really Jean? You had to actually shout it?" Simon asked, Jeanette giggling a bit before shrugging her shoulders, "Had to get out before I just randomly said it, anyway, during the battle, three hundred Spartan warriors blocked the pass, then known as the "Hot Gates", from the opposing Persian army, keeping them from going any further simply due to how narrow the path was." Jeanette explained, Sandra waving her hand before gesturing, "And they would have succeeded in blocking the Persians, if not for Ephialtes betraying them... right?" Sandra asked, Jeanette smiling and nodding her head, "Yes... and I obviously picked the wrong topic to go over for history." Jeanette replied, Sandra laughing silently before gesturing again, "Sorry Aunt Jeanette, I love that movie... even though Daddy says I shouldn't watch it." Sandra said, Jeanette giggling a bit before nodding, "I understand sweetie, how about we move on then to our next lesson?" Jeanette asked, Sandra nodding her head with a smile on her face.

(lase class, Music)

Sandra saw what her uncle Simon had wrote on the board and immediately glared, her hands a near blur with how fast she was signing, "How do you expect me to sing? I HAVE NO VOICE!" Sandra practically screamed, Simon shaking his head, "No, I would never expect you to sing... this is music of instrumental origin, you know like this," Simon replied, bringing out a small guitar before he sat on his desk, strumming on the strings and playing a light tune, quickly dropping into a bit of a song before he knew it.

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,

A beautiful day for a neighbor.

Would you be mine?

Could you be mine?

Won't you be my neighbor?" Simon sang, before he caught the look on his niece's face, chuckling a bit before he set down the guitar, "Sorry, It's a bit of a habit for me to sing like that, but the point is that you can make music too... If you try." Simon explained, pulling a small ukelele out and handing it to his niece, once more taking up his guitar, "Now, see how I'm holding this? This is the proper way to hold a guitar... you have a ukelele, but it's essentially a tiny guitar." Simon explained, Sandra nodding and positioning her hands to the same spots as her uncle on the ukelele, "Good, now press with your fingers on the neck of the guitar to make a note, and with your other hand strum the strings," Simon said, slowly guiding Sandra through the same melody as he had just played, all while humming keeping himself quiet... until he heard whistling, matching the syllables of the words Simon had sung earlier.

Sandra was playing the same tune, though having no voice she substituted with what she could do... she whistled to her tune, Simon smiling before he set down his guitar and listened to his niece, until she noticed that he had stopped and blushed a bit, Jeanette giggling a bit, "No need to stop for us, we love music... but if you like you can be finished with your first day, go on, we need to grade you still so we'll be up later okay," Jeanette said, Sandra smiling before bounding up the stairs, then she returned and hugged both Simon and Jeanette, smiling and gesturing away with something to say, "Thanks for doing this... I LOVED every moment of my school day... except for time out... that I'd happily avoid like the plague," Sandra said, Jeanette placing a kiss to her niece's forehead before giggling "You're welcome, go and have fun, tell your Mommy and Daddy about all the stuff you learned today." Jeanette said, Sandra smiling before taking off again.

(Grading Sandra's classes, Jeanette's POV)

I was highly impressed with the results, Sandra seemed to excel in History, was okay in Math, Science seemed to interest her but wasn't a strong suit and Music, while fun, seemed to be a bit of a flop, if not for Sandra trying to emulate singing by whistling all the time... and she was a bit tardy on returning from lunch, though it wasn't really her fault. "So, same time tomorrow Jean?" Simon asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow, "What? I thought you didn't like teaching." I teased, my mate chuckling a bit before he sighed, "I don't now... I just forgot how much fun it was to teach Sandra, she learned how to sign her words so fast I guess it just never struck me as being fun," Simon explained, as I leaned over his desk and kissed his lips, "It's okay babe, I know you loved every moment of it." I replied, before Simon pulled me over the desk and into his lap, "You know... we could always have a bit of fun before we go upstairs." Simon said, twirling my tail around his fingers, to which I shuddered and sighed, shaking my head a bit and offering a kiss, "Not right now, remember Sandra is Silent and if she forgot a single thing in here we'd never hear her coming." I replied, Simon almost letting out a sad sigh, "Aww, no fair," he said, gaining a roll of my eyes in response before I got up and made my way upstairs, Simon following closely afterwards.

And that's it, just to give an Idea of how Sandra was home schooled... as for the others learning Sign Language... that may be saved for later. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll catch you all later, PEACE!

And now, a random moment in the Seville home:

*Miles playing video games when Alvin hops up onto his shoulder*

Alvin: What'cha doing?

Miles: Playing video games, what else does it look like?

Alvin: Well, based on the fact that you got five stars, probably running drugs.

*Samantha runs in and glares at Miles*

Samantha: YOU'RE SMUGGLING DRUGS!

Miles: In a video game mom, not for real.