February 21 - 25

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston's Key of Liberty class took a field trip to the State Capitol this week.  It was so much fun for them to watch the State House and State Senate in session.  They also took a self-guided tour of the Capitol and then got to have lunch in Salt Lake.  What a fun day!  

MARISSA

Marissa and Preston had group piano lesson this week.  They learned about the Circle of Fifths.  Their piano teacher - Teacher Amy - had awesome flashcards for them to make and cut out to learn more about music theory.  So great!  Marissa spent a lot of time getting her cards ready so she can practice and pass them off during her lesson.  

CALEB

Caleb's favorite way to learn is through games.  He LOVES games!  This week, we played Prime Climb and worked on some fast math skills.  We also played a game called Fracto to work on fractions, but we were too busy having fun to snap a picture.  ;)

OTHER

TWOS-DAY

We had fun with the twos-day theme on 2-22-22 and had a special cheer at 2:22pm.  The kids also tried to convince me I should let them stay up until 10:22pm since that would be 22:22 in military time.  That did not happen (but I did appreciate their thinking and strategy skills on that one).  

We played some math doubles games and practiced drawing with two hands at the same time to stimulate both hemispheres of the brain to work together.  Some of us were more successful than others at this activity, but we all had a good time.  

February 14 - 18

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston had a book discussion on the first half of "Fifty-Five Fathers."  It's all about the convention that led to the Constitution of the United States.  He also watched "A More Perfect Union" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" for his Key of Liberty class.  

MARISSA

Marissa finished reading "Thomas Edison" for her Ninja Scholar class this week.  She took great notes and was one of the finalists when her class played "Family Feud."  

CALEB

Caleb learned about George Washington Carver this week.  His class did experiments using celery and food coloring to see how plants soak up water and vitamins.  He also planted a bean seed that he has been watering and waiting for it to grow.  

OTHER

PUPPY

Big brother, Dylan, bought a puppy last week.  He is moving out in a couple of weeks and just couldn't wait.  We've all been learning a lot about taking care of an animal helping Dylan dog sit while he gets her settled in her new house.  

OTHER

VALENTINE'S DAY

Valentine's Day was fun and the kids had little parties in their classes.  Here are a few pictures from the festivities.  We also have a dear friend who is dying from cancer.  She happens to have a birthday on Valentine's Day so we made her cards and went for a visit (with Dylan's puppy since Hannah loves animals).  It was so sweet and great for the kids to give service and remember others on this fun holiday.  

February 7 - 11

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston finished reading "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King."  He said it was his favorite in the series.  He's now wearing a gold necklace with a gold ring around his neck so he can be Frodo.  ;)

Preston also worked on journaling the Constitution, memorization, reading upcoming books for book discussions, writing assignments and math review.  He also LOVES his technology class where he is learning all about filmmaking and editing.  He's been working on a new stop motion that will probably take him a few weeks. 

MARISSA

Marissa has been working on a lot of language arts this week.  She also worked on writing and creating for the Valentine's party in her Ninja Scholar class.  

She did an awesome narration of The Ugly Duckling on an audio file, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put an audio file (mp4) on the blog.  

CALEB

Caleb wrote a song this week.  He used the same notes in the song he was practicing for his group piano class and changed the pattern and then put words to it.  Then Marissa sang it while he played it.  So awesome!  

OTHER

P.E.

Our family has been working on putting together a small gym in our garage so we can get exercise in the winter a little bit easier.  We hung a pull-up bar, a yoga trapeze and a heavy bag.  Everyone has been having a great time using the space we have set up and getting in extra exercise in addition to their normal P.E. classes (karate, tumbling and Ninja Warehouse) every week.  

January 31 - February 4

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston finished reading "The Great Little Madison" and participated in a book discussion in his Key of Liberty class.  He also worked on journaling the Constitution.  He finished all the articles and will now go on to work on journaling each of the amendments.  

MARISSA

Marissa gave a presentation in her Ninja Scholar class this week.  She did amazing!  She taught the class about rabbits.  She did the research, a poster and talking points for her presentation all by herself.  

CALEB

Caleb worked on reading and handwriting this week.  He finished reading a "Princess in Black" book (which are books that are definitely not just for girls).  He also read some smaller readers for his "All About Reading" assignments and worked on more basic cursive handwriting skills.  He's doing great! 

He built a really cool ramp structure in his Heroic Youth class.  They learned about the Von Trapp family this week.  He also had show and tell.  He had to work on some strong emotions since his cork gun that he brought to show the class broke and it was really special to him.  After getting settled and talking it through a bit, he went back to class and shared the other half of his show and tell which was a magnetic license plate from Moab, UT with his name on it.  It was definitely good practice for emotional resilience and grit during class this week!  

OTHER

P.E. (SWIMMING)

We went swimming as a family to the South Davis Recreational Center this week.  The kids had a great time and all practiced their strokes in the pool.  They surprised us with their fearless desire to jump off the high dive.  So much fun!