January and February in Review
Bible/Character: In the first couple of months of 2007, morning devotionals included a look at the lives of Mary Slessor, Charles H. Spurgeon and George Washington Carver. I think the girls both liked "the peanut man" most of the three. We also continue to read from Scripture many mornings, along with our FAITH training each Wednesday evening. We camped out in Luke for the beginning of the year - how amazing the retention level of the girls is from this 1-2 hours of time "in the Word" each week as a family! Fellowship Bible Church's "FamilyFusion" materials have also been a great resource as we are able to review what the girls have discussed and learned in their classes at FSK on Sundays (usually a Monday morning activity). Our family's trip to Gibson City Bible Church's annual Missions Conference provided a great opportunity for the girls to have their faith strengthened by others during the children's program led by the King family. (Though Callie was sick for half of the time.)
Dictation/Copywork: These selections continue to be taken from current Scripture memory (for FAITH, Fellowship classes, etc) or from our current reading (poetry, history/literature, Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer).
Grammar/Phonics: Coplea added a weekly grammar exercise online starting in early February - it provides good review and has been nice to have the things she's learning from Easy Grammar be reinforced in another way. She also continues to do great with each week's spelling and vocabulary words. On January 27th, she took part in the Pulaski County Homeschool Spelling Bee held at the Bible Church of Little Rock. What a fun and growing experience for her! We were entirely proud when she placed 6th as the youngest participant there! Callie definitely prefers the days when I provide some type of phonics "game" or activity in place of the regular worksheets (or in addition to them). She loves the challenge of filling in missing vowel sounds or playing guessing games. We've allowed her to add online phonics games about 1-2 times/month of late. Both of the big girls enjoyed the addition of "Grammar Songs" to our classroom in February. (Much like the AudioMemory Geography Songs we've used for the past 3-4 years.)
Handwriting: Callie moved into her regular weekly lessons with Reason for Handwriting (it has taken all year just to get through the practice lessons). Now each lesson has five distinct parts, all leading toward mastery of the letters and words within a given Bible verse, which she writes on a special border sheet at the end of the week. A positive step!
Math: We began the year with an in-depth look at money. My focus was primarily to get Callie fluent in the various denominations and adding coins/making change. It was a fun and "profitable" (pun intended) two week diversion. Continuing with MathUSee, both girls are also doing well with the daily lessons and weekly tests. Callie - addition plus 8 and plus 9, circles and triangles; Coplea - multiplication by 7, 8, 10 and 100, rounding and estimation.
Science: SEEK continued from 9-2:30 each Friday through March 2nd. Chad went with me on that day to watch them "graduate" from the 12 week program. The girls certainly loved SEEK, and just as much the new friends they made because of it (especially Hope, Anna Claire, Rachel, Robert, Michael and others). Callie learned about insects, butterflies/moths, tarantulas, snakes, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and animal classification these past couple of months, while Coplea studied bats, caves and other habitats, insects and more.
PhysEd: Coplea's basketball ("Lady Spartans") and Callie's cheerleading ("The Bluebirds") took up a large portion of our winter weekends! Each had a one-hour weekly practice, in addition to the one hour games on Saturdays - quite a well-organized program with over 600 kids participating! Out back, we enjoyed a little frisbee golf and an introduction to the Chinese jump rope. Coplea also had two sleepover birthday parties within Jan/Feb, both of them at the ice/roller skating rink. =) Both girls also enjoyed a bowling outing with their Daddy!
Latin: Coplea continues to do well in her independent study of Latin - she wows us all with her knowledge of the constellations now.
Reading: Continuing 20 minute per day reading lessons with Callie. On January 31, she was introduced to the -sk sound, and we were reviewing words within the Phonics Pathways book. We came to the word "tusk" and she read it aloud clearly. I asked her if she knew what it meant. Callie said (quite confidently), "Yes! Like what Daddy wore when you were married!" (Cute!) Coplea has begun choosing one of Dave and Neta Jackson's historical biographies every few weeks at the library as an overview of the lives of great missionary heroes. The Trailblazer series was one I would loved to have purchased in its entirety, but to my great pleasure and surprise, when I emailed the main library to request they consider adding the series over time, they added the whole thing to their holdings. We LOVE our local library!!!!
Other titles Coplea has read lately inlcude Black Beauty, More Perfect than the Moon and A Coal Miner's Bride.
History/Geography: A review of the history of money (through the ages and with a special emphasis on US currency) started our 2007 studies together. We moved onto a brief look at architectural styles of the late 1800s, and then took a turn toward the sciences in studying the lives of Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur. A week-long review of the Spanish American War (and President McKinley's and future president Theodore Roosevelt's influence on our involvement as a nation, along with its impact on Cuba) led the girls to several fun afternoons of playing the game Battleship. Who knew playing on the sofa for 2 hours could count as "school"!!? We took two days to review all of the United States Presidents through McKinley, and tested our memory by having timed quizzes to see who could remember the most. Coplea and Callie both did a great job; we were all aided by the use of a mnemonic device touted in the book The Buck Stops Here. The remaining weeks of Jan/Feb were spent drawing the 19th Century to a close in the girls' minds (and mine!) by a thorough reading of If You Lived 100 Years Ago (another great Ann McGovern title) and lots of review and wrap-up activities.
Creative Writing and Typing Coplea's "mind-map" is probably my favorite outgrowth of her creative writing assignments of late. She began with the title "Spanish American War" and came up with quite a great overview of the many-faceted skirmish, which she also typed as an outline and summary. She also typed a piece titled "How Money Got Started" which amused the grandparents.
Fine Arts: Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre: This Little Piggy went to Market was a fun play! Two weeks after we attended the show, Caris ran into the kitchen with the Razorback snout on her nose and said, "See me? See me? I'm going to market!" - They really DO listen!!!!
Draw-Write-Now provides good instruction in drawing techniques - the girls both pull it out from time-to-time, and it came in handy while studying money.
Music Appreciation: Ongoing piano lessons for Coplea - her love of piano continues, as evidenced by the lack of prodding required to get her to practice each day.
Pre-PreSchool: Caris has become more willing to sit at the table with us as we begin each homeschool day - she will color or draw while the big girls do their handwriting and other "table work." Once she seems to be bored with the sitting, I'll go grab her daily basket and lay out a towel or blanket wherever she chooses (always at our feet in the dining room!) so she can play there while we tackle another subject. She truly loves to do whatever her big sisters are doing. About 3 days a week, she watches a video while we finish up in the dining room, then we all move to snack time and a little outside play if the weather cooperates. She has been our best napper of all the girls, and so we were shocked when she simpy gave up her 2 - 2 1/2 hour afternoon nap the SAME WEEK Chad started full-time at the FamilyLife offices. Oh well!!! It makes things pretty miserable from about 3:00 or 3:30 onward 'til suppertime, but I am confident that "this too shall pass."
Other Activities:
Wendy's Nana fell on New Year's Day and has not been able to return to her home of 55 years since. She was at SVI for awhile and has now been moved to a nursing home long-term.
Chad and Wendy - an overnight away at The Empress of Little Rock (including a visit to see Nana at the hospital since we didn't have the kids for a change). This was my Christmas present to Chad, and a belated celebration of our 10th anniversary. Not much had changed at the Victorian era home since our wedding night there, but we found that we were much changed. . . and for the better. It was our first night away since Cate was born, and only our 2nd night away since Caris was born. Two and a half years! We're looking forward to the next "chapter" in our married life!!
Watching "Newsies" as a family - we definitely love the older musicals. This one was a perfect fit as we discussed big city life at the turn of the century.
Playing Monopoly for about 3 hours during our study of the history of money - a fun night with the girls!
Books, books, books at the FOCAL sale! I was showing off all my great bargain finds to Coplea and Callie when we heard an awful crash and realized Chad had fallen in the attic above us. He didn't answer my repeated shouts, which sent the girls into a bit of a panic. After several attempts, he finally responded, "I'm fine." (But he didn't sound fine!) Little did we know we'd be dealing with the effects of that Friday afternoon wiring project for months to come!
Community Group for us grown-ups every Sunday evening means time with the girls' favorite babysitter/friend, McKenna!! SuperBowl party spent at the Englishes WITH the kids this time.
A day at the Arkansas State Capital. It was "Homeschool Day" planned to make the homeschool community known to the new class of legislators. The homeschool community put on a very good face, and the hundreds of home-made treats certainly put a very positive spin as each member was given a plate full of "love". The girls also took a historical tour of the Capital and finished the day attending an actual session of both the house and senate.
Supper at the Porters' in North Little Rock.
Chad's first day at the FamilyLife headquarters. After THREE years of raising support, we "reported" on Monday, January 29th. A very GOOD day!
Daddy-daughter Valentine's Day dance at the Arkansas Arts Center for Chad and Callie.
Y Princess meeting for Chad and Callie at the Beaches' house - they made Valentine flower pots!
Chad presented the gospel as the devotional at one of Coplea's Thursday night basketball practices.
After evaluations, x-rays and an MRI, Chad had reconstructive shoulder surgery early on Friday, February 9th. Thankfully, my mom was able to spend Thursday through Saturday with us to help me get through and allow Chad the rest he needed. It would be 3 full weeks before he could drive again - work, therapy, MD followups, etc. meant we did alot of our history readings in the van (thankfully "If You Lived 100 Years Ago" is a lightweight book!).
All Staff Meeting at Parkway Place Church 2/13 - the girls enjoy the "kid camp" at those meeting (at least that's what we call it!).
A special Valentine's party in Maumelle, orchestrated by friend Angie Shelton- who also has four beautiful daughters. What a great homeschool group they have going out there. After our fun-filled afternoon (lots of games, contests, candy, cookies, etc), we headed to a local nursing home to tell jokes for the residents (CTD also had the opportunity to play piano for them).
Callie turned SEVEN!!!!! Our little girl is definitely growing up! We had a sleepover for 2 of her friends, though about 6 or 7 came for the evening leading up to it. The pinata Grandy had just brought the girls from Mexico was the highlight of the night. =)
The stomach flu hit our household - everyone except Chad and Coplea got it for a weekend. . . . then Caris got a second go-round of it on our way to IL. Yes, IN the van. It was horrible, horrible, horrible. . . and it lasted through the entire missions conference and all the way back to AR again. Don't know how we made it, really! Thankfully, Chad's mom was able to watch whoever happened to be feeling bad at her house so that one of us didn't have to miss the entire event.
A SouthernLiving at Home party hosted by us at my dad's house - billed as a FamilyLife fundraiser. It was a fun evening; about 11 or 12 ladies came. . . but I'm glad that one's over!
Cate's first haircut!!
Signing off for January and February. . .
wendy
Dictation/Copywork: These selections continue to be taken from current Scripture memory (for FAITH, Fellowship classes, etc) or from our current reading (poetry, history/literature, Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer).
Grammar/Phonics: Coplea added a weekly grammar exercise online starting in early February - it provides good review and has been nice to have the things she's learning from Easy Grammar be reinforced in another way. She also continues to do great with each week's spelling and vocabulary words. On January 27th, she took part in the Pulaski County Homeschool Spelling Bee held at the Bible Church of Little Rock. What a fun and growing experience for her! We were entirely proud when she placed 6th as the youngest participant there! Callie definitely prefers the days when I provide some type of phonics "game" or activity in place of the regular worksheets (or in addition to them). She loves the challenge of filling in missing vowel sounds or playing guessing games. We've allowed her to add online phonics games about 1-2 times/month of late. Both of the big girls enjoyed the addition of "Grammar Songs" to our classroom in February. (Much like the AudioMemory Geography Songs we've used for the past 3-4 years.)
Handwriting: Callie moved into her regular weekly lessons with Reason for Handwriting (it has taken all year just to get through the practice lessons). Now each lesson has five distinct parts, all leading toward mastery of the letters and words within a given Bible verse, which she writes on a special border sheet at the end of the week. A positive step!
Math: We began the year with an in-depth look at money. My focus was primarily to get Callie fluent in the various denominations and adding coins/making change. It was a fun and "profitable" (pun intended) two week diversion. Continuing with MathUSee, both girls are also doing well with the daily lessons and weekly tests. Callie - addition plus 8 and plus 9, circles and triangles; Coplea - multiplication by 7, 8, 10 and 100, rounding and estimation.
Science: SEEK continued from 9-2:30 each Friday through March 2nd. Chad went with me on that day to watch them "graduate" from the 12 week program. The girls certainly loved SEEK, and just as much the new friends they made because of it (especially Hope, Anna Claire, Rachel, Robert, Michael and others). Callie learned about insects, butterflies/moths, tarantulas, snakes, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and animal classification these past couple of months, while Coplea studied bats, caves and other habitats, insects and more.
PhysEd: Coplea's basketball ("Lady Spartans") and Callie's cheerleading ("The Bluebirds") took up a large portion of our winter weekends! Each had a one-hour weekly practice, in addition to the one hour games on Saturdays - quite a well-organized program with over 600 kids participating! Out back, we enjoyed a little frisbee golf and an introduction to the Chinese jump rope. Coplea also had two sleepover birthday parties within Jan/Feb, both of them at the ice/roller skating rink. =) Both girls also enjoyed a bowling outing with their Daddy!
Latin: Coplea continues to do well in her independent study of Latin - she wows us all with her knowledge of the constellations now.
Reading: Continuing 20 minute per day reading lessons with Callie. On January 31, she was introduced to the -sk sound, and we were reviewing words within the Phonics Pathways book. We came to the word "tusk" and she read it aloud clearly. I asked her if she knew what it meant. Callie said (quite confidently), "Yes! Like what Daddy wore when you were married!" (Cute!) Coplea has begun choosing one of Dave and Neta Jackson's historical biographies every few weeks at the library as an overview of the lives of great missionary heroes. The Trailblazer series was one I would loved to have purchased in its entirety, but to my great pleasure and surprise, when I emailed the main library to request they consider adding the series over time, they added the whole thing to their holdings. We LOVE our local library!!!!
Other titles Coplea has read lately inlcude Black Beauty, More Perfect than the Moon and A Coal Miner's Bride.
History/Geography: A review of the history of money (through the ages and with a special emphasis on US currency) started our 2007 studies together. We moved onto a brief look at architectural styles of the late 1800s, and then took a turn toward the sciences in studying the lives of Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur. A week-long review of the Spanish American War (and President McKinley's and future president Theodore Roosevelt's influence on our involvement as a nation, along with its impact on Cuba) led the girls to several fun afternoons of playing the game Battleship. Who knew playing on the sofa for 2 hours could count as "school"!!? We took two days to review all of the United States Presidents through McKinley, and tested our memory by having timed quizzes to see who could remember the most. Coplea and Callie both did a great job; we were all aided by the use of a mnemonic device touted in the book The Buck Stops Here. The remaining weeks of Jan/Feb were spent drawing the 19th Century to a close in the girls' minds (and mine!) by a thorough reading of If You Lived 100 Years Ago (another great Ann McGovern title) and lots of review and wrap-up activities.
Creative Writing and Typing Coplea's "mind-map" is probably my favorite outgrowth of her creative writing assignments of late. She began with the title "Spanish American War" and came up with quite a great overview of the many-faceted skirmish, which she also typed as an outline and summary. She also typed a piece titled "How Money Got Started" which amused the grandparents.
Fine Arts: Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre: This Little Piggy went to Market was a fun play! Two weeks after we attended the show, Caris ran into the kitchen with the Razorback snout on her nose and said, "See me? See me? I'm going to market!" - They really DO listen!!!!
Draw-Write-Now provides good instruction in drawing techniques - the girls both pull it out from time-to-time, and it came in handy while studying money.
Music Appreciation: Ongoing piano lessons for Coplea - her love of piano continues, as evidenced by the lack of prodding required to get her to practice each day.
Pre-PreSchool: Caris has become more willing to sit at the table with us as we begin each homeschool day - she will color or draw while the big girls do their handwriting and other "table work." Once she seems to be bored with the sitting, I'll go grab her daily basket and lay out a towel or blanket wherever she chooses (always at our feet in the dining room!) so she can play there while we tackle another subject. She truly loves to do whatever her big sisters are doing. About 3 days a week, she watches a video while we finish up in the dining room, then we all move to snack time and a little outside play if the weather cooperates. She has been our best napper of all the girls, and so we were shocked when she simpy gave up her 2 - 2 1/2 hour afternoon nap the SAME WEEK Chad started full-time at the FamilyLife offices. Oh well!!! It makes things pretty miserable from about 3:00 or 3:30 onward 'til suppertime, but I am confident that "this too shall pass."
Other Activities:
Wendy's Nana fell on New Year's Day and has not been able to return to her home of 55 years since. She was at SVI for awhile and has now been moved to a nursing home long-term.
Chad and Wendy - an overnight away at The Empress of Little Rock (including a visit to see Nana at the hospital since we didn't have the kids for a change). This was my Christmas present to Chad, and a belated celebration of our 10th anniversary. Not much had changed at the Victorian era home since our wedding night there, but we found that we were much changed. . . and for the better. It was our first night away since Cate was born, and only our 2nd night away since Caris was born. Two and a half years! We're looking forward to the next "chapter" in our married life!!
Watching "Newsies" as a family - we definitely love the older musicals. This one was a perfect fit as we discussed big city life at the turn of the century.
Playing Monopoly for about 3 hours during our study of the history of money - a fun night with the girls!
Books, books, books at the FOCAL sale! I was showing off all my great bargain finds to Coplea and Callie when we heard an awful crash and realized Chad had fallen in the attic above us. He didn't answer my repeated shouts, which sent the girls into a bit of a panic. After several attempts, he finally responded, "I'm fine." (But he didn't sound fine!) Little did we know we'd be dealing with the effects of that Friday afternoon wiring project for months to come!
Community Group for us grown-ups every Sunday evening means time with the girls' favorite babysitter/friend, McKenna!! SuperBowl party spent at the Englishes WITH the kids this time.
A day at the Arkansas State Capital. It was "Homeschool Day" planned to make the homeschool community known to the new class of legislators. The homeschool community put on a very good face, and the hundreds of home-made treats certainly put a very positive spin as each member was given a plate full of "love". The girls also took a historical tour of the Capital and finished the day attending an actual session of both the house and senate.
Supper at the Porters' in North Little Rock.
Chad's first day at the FamilyLife headquarters. After THREE years of raising support, we "reported" on Monday, January 29th. A very GOOD day!
Daddy-daughter Valentine's Day dance at the Arkansas Arts Center for Chad and Callie.
Y Princess meeting for Chad and Callie at the Beaches' house - they made Valentine flower pots!
Chad presented the gospel as the devotional at one of Coplea's Thursday night basketball practices.
After evaluations, x-rays and an MRI, Chad had reconstructive shoulder surgery early on Friday, February 9th. Thankfully, my mom was able to spend Thursday through Saturday with us to help me get through and allow Chad the rest he needed. It would be 3 full weeks before he could drive again - work, therapy, MD followups, etc. meant we did alot of our history readings in the van (thankfully "If You Lived 100 Years Ago" is a lightweight book!).
All Staff Meeting at Parkway Place Church 2/13 - the girls enjoy the "kid camp" at those meeting (at least that's what we call it!).
A special Valentine's party in Maumelle, orchestrated by friend Angie Shelton- who also has four beautiful daughters. What a great homeschool group they have going out there. After our fun-filled afternoon (lots of games, contests, candy, cookies, etc), we headed to a local nursing home to tell jokes for the residents (CTD also had the opportunity to play piano for them).
Callie turned SEVEN!!!!! Our little girl is definitely growing up! We had a sleepover for 2 of her friends, though about 6 or 7 came for the evening leading up to it. The pinata Grandy had just brought the girls from Mexico was the highlight of the night. =)
The stomach flu hit our household - everyone except Chad and Coplea got it for a weekend. . . . then Caris got a second go-round of it on our way to IL. Yes, IN the van. It was horrible, horrible, horrible. . . and it lasted through the entire missions conference and all the way back to AR again. Don't know how we made it, really! Thankfully, Chad's mom was able to watch whoever happened to be feeling bad at her house so that one of us didn't have to miss the entire event.
A SouthernLiving at Home party hosted by us at my dad's house - billed as a FamilyLife fundraiser. It was a fun evening; about 11 or 12 ladies came. . . but I'm glad that one's over!
Cate's first haircut!!
Signing off for January and February. . .
wendy
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