THMJ Feb. 12, 2012

Reading, Art, Basketball, and Prayers!

In my life this week…

My son and I got our hair cut this week! Woot!  We were busy with activities and trying to help my hubby stay positive!  His partner's wife had an emergency C-section to a tiny, preemie this week and so his workload has increased a great deal!  See more in the prayer section below.

My son finally had an exciting, close-scoring basketball game this Saturday.  His team only lost by two points, which was a much smaller margin than the last two games.  The way the boys cheered at the end, you would have thought that they won the game!  It was the best defending and shooting that I have seen them do all season.

B and I had a fun time working on Valentines this weekend.  She will get to have her first real Valentine exchange at our homeschool group tomorrow!  She has always sent them to friends and family or delivered them in person, but she has always been educated at home, so this will be her first "Valentine" party that wasn't just with her family at home.

In our homeschool this week…

I decided to measure each child's reading fluency this week.  I was pleasantly surprised with how accurately they both read their passages aloud.  I also found a way to calculate the reading level of just about any passage of written material.  I was excited to realize that according to this information, my son is reading material at his grade level or just a bit above!!!!!  For this mom of a dyslexic learner, that is huge news!  I know we have worked hard with the Barton Reading and Spelling System for almost three years, but this blows me away because we still have almost three Barton levels to complete, and then two more about Greek and Latin roots of words.  So, we are only a little over halfway through the program.  He also completed his first solo reading of a Magic Tree House book, Civil War on Sunday.  B was already reading way above her grade level, but it boosted her confidence when I told her how well she is doing, too!  We all need encouragement now and then.

Cody (Golden Retriever) listens in on J's story while he reads!

During our Classical Conversations weekly classes on last Monday we did an experiment to see if we could make an egg float - and it was successful!  The children enjoy helping with the experiments, so the trick for me as the tutor is to find a way for each of my 8 students to be able to do some task for the experiment so they can all feel involved.  We are learning about chemistry this six weeks.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

On Monday, B created a beautiful butterfly when we studied the works of Georgia O'Keefe.  I told the children to paint something from nature after we looked at several examples of how she created extremely close up portraits of flowers, shells, leaves, and bones from the desert.  B tried drawing two other things before I told her to just paint.  She seemed "free" to paint and not have to draw every detail - she is a very detailed artist.  So when she just picked up a brush, this is what she created!  I love seeing the variety of how God has given us each a unique perspective of the world.

B created this butterfly in class this week

B also began working with her new art teacher this week.  He former instructor has had some scheduling changes and is not able to work with any art students right now.  We met with her new teacher, showed her some of B's work,  and discussed her new Jr. Duck Stamp Art Contest project.  Then, we traveled to the nearest Hobby Lobby and found the supplies that she needed to create a piece with her media of choice, soft pastels.  She started working on it Saturday morning and learned to use a grid to draw an enlarged composition from a photograph.  She was nervous about working with a different teacher, but B seemed put to ease when we talked with her instructor and she remembered B's artwork from last year's contest and was quite complimentary.  I am thrilled for B to have the opportunity to express herself and add to her artistic abilities.  She LOVES creating artwork and I am happy to see her working on it passionately!

Questions/thoughts I have…

I keep asking these questions because I need some responses!  Who has some thoughts on what to see in Washington D.C. on a first visit?  We have the opportunity to visit there and bring the kids this spring.  We are getting excited, especially while our studies have been focused on American history this year!  Does anyone have any tips or "must-sees"?  Have you requested tours of federal buildings through your congressman?  Are there any you would pass to spend more time seeing other things?

I’m praying for…

I am still praying for friends whose baby was born at 25 weeks, 5 days gestation last week. Baby Elise weighed in at 1 lb. 4.5 oz. and she is receiving great care in the NICU and should be there for quite awhile.  Mommy Jessica's blood pressure is normalizing and she has been discharged from the hospital and is recuperating! She is staying 4 minutes from the hospital and spending as much time as she can in the NICU with her daughter.  Praise God for this tiny little life and her family and huge network of supportive friends and co-workers!  Please continue to pray for her to grow fully strong and healthy and for peace, strength, and wisdom for her parents!  Please also pray for my husband because he works with Elise's Daddy and has already worked many, many extra hours to help out. He really needs some rest this week!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

I found out about the This Old Schoolhouse app. for their digital magazine this week!  It is encouraging and inspiring!  It is available for iphone, ipad, and ipod OR Androids!  Try it out!

We were so surprised when we found out on Monday that my son's photo was chosen to ride around on his children's choir van!  Now his face rides around on the Columbus Indiana Children's Choir van while his choir director travels to and from Indianapolis. (This is a regional choir from the Indianapolis Children's Choir family.) How cool!  He was excited and his music teacher/choir director mama was definitely proud!

This is the first time J saw his photo on the van!

Happy Homeschooling,

Rachel