December 13 - 17

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston finished memorizing the Declaration of Independence.  It was a long process, but he is amazing!  He also finished reading "The Making of George Washington" for his book discussion AND finished reading the second "Lord of the Rings" book.  

MARISSA

Marissa loved doing yoga in her "Music and Movement" class this week.  

She and Preston also had a piano recital.  They both felt like they messed up a little under pressure, but I think they did a great job performing!

CALEB

Caleb has been extremely interested in science lately.  We spent a lot of time researching molecules, atoms, talking about protons, neutrons and electrons.  That lead to curiosity and more research about quarks, neutrinos and quantum foam.  This kid's scientific and mathematical mind is fascinating to observe!  I took a picture of him teaching his older siblings with some learning videos after he learned so much. 

Caleb also had a fun winter pajama party for his music class.  They learned chords for Ode to Joy, practiced an old song and watched an old animated Christmas movie that had orchestral music.  He had a great time with his classmates!

OTHER

SLEDDING

We took advantage of snow days and went out sledding for some extra PE time.  The kids had a great time!

READING

We've been reading lots of Christmas and holiday books and loving it! 

December 6 - 10

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston had a presentation in his Shakespeare class on the four humors, which he really enjoyed researching and presenting.  They are sanguine, choleric, meloncholic and phlegmatic.  

MARISSA

Marissa loved the book "The Good Master" that we read aloud as a family.  We finished it this week, which turned out to be perfect since it ended with a chapter explaining where the story of St. Nicolas in Hungary originated.  Such a good story!  We're looking forward to reading the sequel "The Singing Tree" but it may have to wait until we get through our big pile of Christmas and holiday books.  

CALEB

Caleb created a stop motion video this week for his technology class.  He loves learning new things and being like his big brother, Preston.  

OTHER

GINGERBREAD HOUSES

Grandma purchases gingerbread house kits for the kids every year.  We put them together one night as a family with Christmas music playing in the background!  It's so much fun to see how differently each of the kids decorate their house.  

JUMPROPE

Twice a week, Marissa and Caleb get to jumprope for their "Music and Movement" class.  They are getting so much better.  Here are a couple pictures of them jumping their hearts out this week.  

November 22 - December 3

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston has had a few really busy weeks.  Lots of papers, books, presentations...and his belt test for karate.  He earned his brown belt and is looking forward to progressing even more and earning his black belt in the future.  He's been taking karate for three years and has improved so much.  He's also grown A TON!  I put a picture from his first belt test and his most recent belt test for contrast.  It's so crazy! 

Preston had to complete a summary of King Leer for his Shakespeare class.  He chose to create a stop motion video.  It was super time-consuming, but well worth the effort.  It turned out so great!  

MARISSA

Marissa has been focusing a lot on reading.  She finished reading "James and the Giant Peach."  She also hosted a "read-a-thon" with Caleb and they had a great time reading lots of story books.  

CALEB

Caleb worked on reading and math, but his favorite is always playing games.  We played several games of chess this week.  I'm the only one in the family who can consistently beat him now.  I refuse to go easy on him since I know he can learn so much from an opponent a step or two ahead of him.  I have no idea how he learned, but his brain seems to think in logic and strategy.  

OTHER

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

We loves discovering new picture books that teach us about a real story.  It's become a new favorite genre.  We can learn so much without it taking weeks and months.  Here are a few we have read the past couple of weeks.  

Crayon Man was so much fun and inspired us to get out the crayons to color.  And then the paints came out.  Gotta love a good art day!

FALL WALKS

We love taking walks and exploring nature, but we especially love it in the fall when lots of leaves are on the ground.  Here are a few pictures from our outdoor activities.  

November 15 - 19

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston had a writing assignment for his Key of Liberty class.  The topic was "How do you overcome roadblocks in your life?"  It was really touching to read what Preston wrote.  

MARISSA

Marissa finished reading "Davy Crockett" for her class book discussion this week.  She loved the book and got to make a "coon hat" after hunting for the "fury strings."  She had so much fun and learned a lot! 

Marissa also gave a presentation in her class.  She chose to do her presentation on Argentina because that's where her dad is from and she really wants to visit the country one day.  She did a great job!  

CALEB

Caleb worked on his handwriting a lot this week.  He's starting to get the hang of it more and more.  

He learned about Florence Nightingale in his Heroic Youth class.  Then he got to take turns being a doctor or nurse and played a game of Operation.  So much fun! 

OTHER

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

The kids got to go see "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" with My Tech High this week.  I had a conflict so grandma was their adult chaperone.  They LOVED it and had such a great time spending time with grandma!