November 27 - December 1

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston has been reading the Percy Jackson book series.  He recently finished the second book in the series, "Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters."  He is really enjoying this book series!  

MARISSA

Marissa read the book "The Orphan Keeper" for colloquia.  She loved the book and was excited to learn that it was a novel based on a true story.  She had a great time participating in the group discussion with many of her peers.  

CALEB

Caleb LOVES learning!  He is like a sponge.  Any time a subject interests him, he finds a way to research it and learn all that he can.  This week, he could not get enough learning about human anatomy and human physiology.  He learned so much and had a great time teaching his siblings and parents all about what he learned on his quest for knowledge.  

OTHER

THANKSGIVING

We had a great time reading Thanksgiving books together this year.  Here are a few of the good ones we found and read together.   

November 20 - 24

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston's language arts includes sections of geography and art.  He has completed several art projects this year.  It's not necessarily his favorite activity, but they have still been very fun to see along with his writing, spelling and grammar assignments.  

MARISSA

Marissa memorized the Hamlet Set Piece for her Shakespeare class.  She passed it off this week.  She only has a few more requirements to earn the Shakespeare retreat in May!

CALEB

Caleb had a really fun STEM class this week.  The challenge was to create a space ship that would land without ejecting the astronauts (two ping pong balls).  His team didn't quite get there before time ran out, but they learned so much about testing and adjusting their build just like an engineer.  

OTHER

MORNING BASKET

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to read books together.  We used to do this every morning, but as the kids have gotten older and more busy, we do it whenever we can fit it in.  Here are a few of the books we have loved reading together the last few weeks.  

November 13 - 17

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston read a book called "Touching Spirit Bear" and really loved it.  He learned a lot about teens with difficult lives and what it takes to work through anger and hatred.  He said it was definitely at the top of his list of books he enjoys.

MARISSA

Marissa wrote her hero report for Sword of Freedom.  She chose Susan King Taylor.  It was her first time completing a research paper using three separate sources.  She did such a great job! 

CALEB

Caleb continues to work on his language arts and handwriting skills every week.  He is improving so much!

OTHER

NACHOS

We love incorporating learning into every day life.  One of our favorite ways to do this is by reading non-fiction picture books.  This week we found a really fun book called "Nacho's Nachos."  It is the true story about the man who created nachos.  Of course we had to plan a fun meal of nachos to go along with our book.  

November 6 - 10

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston and Marissa had a big week this week!  They were both part of Willow cast for "Into the Woods" with Sweet Harmony Performing Arts Group.  They had three performances this week!

Preston played the wolf as well as Cinderella's prince.  He had two big solos and lots of lines to learn.  He did an amazing job and really pushed himself beyond his comfort zone in front of an audience.

MARISSA

Marissa also participated in "Into the Woods" this semester.  She played the steward.  It was so funny to watch her with Preston on stage as the side kick and helper for Cinderella's prince.  It was particularly funny with siblings playing these two roles.  

CALEB

Caleb learned about how it was like to live as a frontiersman in the late 1700s like Daniel Boone.  In his Ninja Scholars class he hunted animals (for food and clothing), built a settlement with lincoln logs, and had to identify animal tracks.  It was so much fun learning more about that period of time in Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana.  

October 30 - November 3

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

PRESTON

Preston continues to work on his schedule and routine every week.  He completes language arts, art, geography, handwriting, math, driver's ed, filmmaking, Spanish, piano, karate, and reading, which includes science and history.  He has a busy schedule, but is learning so much.  

This week, he finished up his schoolwork as Spiderman.  Even though he is 16, he loves to join his siblings to celebrate holidays and he could not pass up the opportunity to have a little fun.  

MARISSA

Marissa participated in her first clogging competition this week.  She just started clogging in September and was moved up to Intermediate level.  She decided she wanted to compete, even though she was new to the sport.  She competed in four different all around solos: line, traditional, show, and percussion.  And...she got first place in each dance.  She was so excited and can't wait to compete with in team dances in the spring.  

CALEB

Caleb learned about Dia de los Muertos in his Ninja Scholars class this week.  We also did a special family celebration this year because our "abuela" passed away at the end of September.  It was really special to learn more about this holiday and start a new family tradition honoring our ancestors who have passed on.  

Marissa loved it so much she decided to dress up as "una catrina" for Halloween.