November and December in Review
Better late than never? Oh, how I had hoped to update this blog about once a week when the idea first struck me! I've never been short on good intentions, and am seldom short on overly ambitious expectations (of myself). But the days run together and we're so busy LIVING that it's hard to make time to REFLECT it seems!
So. . . . about three months belated, here's what I can come up with in the way of review for the months of November and December 2006!
Bible/Character: Both of the big girls continue to love CBS (Community Bible Study) - Coplea studying I Peter and Daniel like her mommy, and Callie and Caris working through the CBS preschool curriculum (complete with memorable songs and crafts they each love to display). We also read devotionals at the breakfast table at least 3-4 mornings per week, covering the lives of William & Catherine Booth and David Livingstone among other topics of late. The favorite verse from FAITH training in Nov/Dec would have to be Luke 2:16-19 "And there was the baby lying in the manger. The shepherds told everyone what had happened. All who heard it were astonished; except for Mary, she quietly treasured these things in her heart." Callie quoted this about a thousand times leading up to their Christmas concert for Sonshine Kids. It was even our outgoing (voicemail) message for the month of December. I wish I could have figured out how to save a copy of that precious, precious voice. (Also, be sure to ask Coplea and Callie about the "pig waterfall!")
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 regarding immigration, Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days). Callie's copywork is definitely improving!!
Grammar/Phonics: Coplea has moved to the silver book of Easy Grammar now. She rarely encounters a concept which is beyond her grasp. Callie has used Explode the Code 3-4 times/week as we move toward mastery of blends and confidence in each of the letters' (short and long) sounds. She is currently in Book 1. We also intersperse reading lessons with phonics activities to keep Callie's interest level up (sight words, online phonics games, playdough).
Handwriting: Each of the girls use Reason for Handwriting for ongoing practice in print (Callie) and manuscript (Coplea). Callie practices daily; Coplea about 1-2 x/week.
Math: Continuing with MathUSee, both girls are doing well with the daily lessons and weekly tests. Callie - skip counting by 10, place value, solving for the unknown; Coplea - feet/yards, teaspoons/tablespoons, equivalent fractions, quarters/dollars.
Science: SEEK!!!!! Science Enrichment Education for Kids at the Arkansas 4-H Center started on December 1st. The girls attend the program from 9-2:30 each Friday, and they LOVE it! What a great program the Cooperative Extension has put together for these homeschoolers. Callie is learning (so far) about plants and plant parts, while Coplea has investigated geology and Arkansas geography. Chad also helped the girls to press flowers, a late activity to go along with our previous study of the Victorian Era (but fun nonetheless). Other science-related studies included a look at structural engineering related to the Statue of Liberty.
PhysEd: Enjoying time outdoors as fall quickly becomes winter. . . raking and working on their "garden" are still favorites. Initial evaluations for Upward were held in mid-November. Coplea is anticipating basketball in January, while Callie has chosen to participate in cheerleading instead.
Latin: Coplea continues to do well in her independent study of Latin (now moving on to numbers and such).
Reading: Continuing 20 minute per day reading lessons with Callie, and incorporating more and more "easy readers" now. Coplea is an eager reader, often covering "pleasure" books in addition to her weekly assigned readers (on key figures and events surrounding immigration for these months). Mrs. Katz and Tush was a fun choice for a "light" week of schooling Five in a Row style over the Thanksgiving holiday in Illinois. We all enjoyed it immensely! (it is late March and I just asked the girls what they think of when I say Mrs. Katz and Tush. . . immediate responses: Callie "Such a person!" Coplea "My little Bubelah" and Chad chimed in from the other room, too "Such a person!")
History/Geography: A two week mini-unit on Impressionism gave us an overview of great painters such as Monet, Degas and Renoir. Then we moved on to studying immigration at the end of the 19th Century in-depth. Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, conditions in Europe and elsewhere leading to mass "exodus." . . . it was "all things immigration" in our household for quite awhile.
We also enjoyed a brief look at the history of pizza, taking in some real "Chicago style" deep dish as a family at downtown Little Rock's Gusano's, along with a brief overview of mail-order catalogs and their impact on how people shopped in the late 1800s.
Creative Writing and Typing Coplea looks forward to typing lessons, and often requests to type her hand-written reports from week to week. She has also continued regular "student activity pages" related to the history and literature assignments within Tapestry of Grace - the past couple of months have included immigration journals (as if she were a traveler about to depart) and a cut-out history of pizza project.
Fine Arts: Coplea finished strong in another semester of Kids Love Art, completing a pop art version of Andy Warhol's soup can among other new favorites (several of which we have framed following an enjoyable exhibit out at Camp Aldersgate). We also chose to frame the results of our fun afternoon trying our hands at Monet-style painting - three very different looks from the same view of his "Sunflowers." How fun - I don't know why I don't drag out the paints more often! (On second thought, it must be the clean up!)
Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre: Frog and Toad all Year was a fun play! Glad we made time for it. We also took another morning there to stroll the collections looking for Impressionist or Post-Impressionist works (I gave the girls a bit of a scavenger hunt to follow, but they really just enjoyed walking and looking for themselves)
The Nutcracker ballet was a special treat for which my birthday money was well-spent! We all got dressed up and enjoyed the morning performance followed by a sit-down lunch at Ciao! Italian restaurant downtown (who cares if it's raining?!!).
One of the best projects assigned of late was the life-size (OK, kid-size) Statue of Liberty drawings each of the girls made. We used them to make trivia games for the next Unit Celebration.
Music Appreciation: Sonshine Kids Choir at Fellowship on Wednesday afternoons continues to be a highlight of the big girls' week. They had their Christmas concert at church on 12/10 (lots of rehearsing for that one). We all attended Coplea's piano exhibition at the Easter Seals Rehab center in mid-December as well. She also had a "ConBrio" meeting - piano club at her instructor Sherry Mashburn's home. I was proud to hear Coplea volunteer to take on a role as an officer within that club.
Pre-PreSchool: Caris remains very "into" her daily baskets, and this mom is very grateful for the 20-30 minutes those buy us for completing at least one subject each morning. Caris's favorite words now are "Thank you so MUCH!" What a delight! She repeats everything now. Funny quotes from Nov/Dec - Anytime she hears of sees anything drop, she immediately shouts, "Did it break?" She talks about my mom non-stop, saying "Handy lub me!" And when I mention that Grandy is coming, she always wants to know, "My Emmy Rine comin' too?" (Ryan and Emily Roach) My personal favorite was after Christmas celebrations with the Meyers on 12/23, the Beadles on 12/24, the Fosters on 12/25 and our own family on Christmas night, Caris came down the stairs very slowly on 12/27. Thinking her to be groggy, I walked toward the stairs to greet her and heard these excited words of anticipation, "Open pesents??!" (The mind of a child!) (That same morning, Callie came down late saying, "I heard a spoon, so I knew it was breakfast!")
Cate is becoming more verbal as well. She played with a box lid on 12/21 and with a pretend cell phone the next day, both times putting them to her ear and saying, "LOW?" How quickly they learn! She claps on cue now, and is also trying to put her fingers together to get them to snap.
Other Activities:
Hosting our new friends the Porters for supper in early November - funny, we prepared for the 7 of them (that's alot of food!!) and learned after they arrived that the 4 girls actually live in Idaho with their dad. . . a misunderstanding, but one that provided plenty of food to share with our brand new neighbors (who just moved in that week).
Hosting Chad's soon-to-be manager Mike Hefner and his wife Diane for supper on 11/30 - what a privilege to get to know them, and what a delightful evening of introducing our families.
Chad and Callie's 3rd Daddy-Daughter camp-out November 4-5.
Callie lost her second tooth on 11/5/06.
Explore class at Fellowship each Sunday night - all 4 girls enjoyed the fun during childcare there.
Providing canned goods and other items for families in need as part of the girls' contribution to our church's annual Sharefest.
Chad took Coplea with him to work on a project downtown as part of Sharefest. They were assigned a home that needed a lot of exterior work, and they worked together on the landscaping part of the deal. Someone had said (basically), "Chad, you be in charge of the landscaping." Coplea quickly surveyed the situation and decided, "So, that makes me sorta like the 'vice president'?!" [ Coplea and I planted a dozen boxwoods and bushes along the front of this home in addition to laying out the landscape bed and lining it with wooden edging. Coplea also had the idea of taking the last two plants and utilizing the discarded curved concrete edging that was removed from the front of the home and make small landscaping beds at the front of the sidewalk near the street. They looked great and gave the home some real depth. All who saw it said "Who's idea was this? It looks great!" It really filled her "cup" to overflowing.
After we finished the landscaping work, we filled in the rest of our day helping with some of the exterior painting that still needed to be finished. It was a good experience for both of us. -CJD]
Having a blast as we joined friends at a Maumelle homeschool group's first-ever Thanksgiving feast (held at New Life Church). What a great bunch of families, and what a fun event!
Thanksgiving meal with the Meyers a week ahead of the actual holiday (think we're destined to have at least two of every holiday from here on out!!) Grandy surprised everyone by having sweatshirts screen-printed with each family's last name for a family picture. =)
Charlotte's Web movie and an afternoon at the Peabody (seeing the ducks) for Grandy and the kids.
As is our "tradition", we drove around town looking at Christmas lights. Each year we search for a good neighborhood, and have yet to locate a great one. Hit and Miss for the most part. Maybe next year?
"Grandy camp" moved SE a bit - she came here as our schedules wouldn't allow the whole weekend to be spent in Center Ridge. The kids (including cousins) all enjoyed making gingerbread houses and more, then the downtown Christmas parade (which Chad and Callie participated in with the YPrincess group) before heading to Center Ridge for night #2 and a Christmas bazaar at St. Joseph's Catholic Church there.
A benefit concert for the Davidsons as they prepare to leave for a mission assignment in Uganda. Christmas songs and an evening of dress-up.
12/21 - Dixie Cafe for lunch with McDaniels, Fosters and NANA - her last meal "out," though we didn't know it at the time.
Baking and delivering about 18 full-sized loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread to neighbors and friends. A worthwhile family tradition that we plan to continue (even if it kills us. . . just kidding!)
Saying "good-bye" to Wendy's Aunt Geneva at her memorial service, and learning a hard lesson about going forward with what your heart says to do even when well-meaning family members try to tell you otherwise (a very long story. . .) It was good to be a part of that funeral on 12/23 - so glad my mom could keep things going as it was DURING the time we were hosting the Meyer family Christmas gathering at our house.
Cate's first birthday!!!! A very special birthday celebration attended by Grandma Beth, Granddad and BB, Uncle Don and Aunt Libby and friends and neighbors the Adcocks. We spent the afternoon at The Wonder Place and then enjoyed cake and ice cream and gifts galore. I truly feel like a major bridge has been crossed. We have indeed survived the most sleep-deprived years of our lives - our oldest will be 10 in 2007 and our youngest has crossed into her toddler years. What a milestone!
Until next time. . . .
wendy
So. . . . about three months belated, here's what I can come up with in the way of review for the months of November and December 2006!
Bible/Character: Both of the big girls continue to love CBS (Community Bible Study) - Coplea studying I Peter and Daniel like her mommy, and Callie and Caris working through the CBS preschool curriculum (complete with memorable songs and crafts they each love to display). We also read devotionals at the breakfast table at least 3-4 mornings per week, covering the lives of William & Catherine Booth and David Livingstone among other topics of late. The favorite verse from FAITH training in Nov/Dec would have to be Luke 2:16-19 "And there was the baby lying in the manger. The shepherds told everyone what had happened. All who heard it were astonished; except for Mary, she quietly treasured these things in her heart." Callie quoted this about a thousand times leading up to their Christmas concert for Sonshine Kids. It was even our outgoing (voicemail) message for the month of December. I wish I could have figured out how to save a copy of that precious, precious voice. (Also, be sure to ask Coplea and Callie about the "pig waterfall!")
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 regarding immigration, Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days). Callie's copywork is definitely improving!!
Grammar/Phonics: Coplea has moved to the silver book of Easy Grammar now. She rarely encounters a concept which is beyond her grasp. Callie has used Explode the Code 3-4 times/week as we move toward mastery of blends and confidence in each of the letters' (short and long) sounds. She is currently in Book 1. We also intersperse reading lessons with phonics activities to keep Callie's interest level up (sight words, online phonics games, playdough).
Handwriting: Each of the girls use Reason for Handwriting for ongoing practice in print (Callie) and manuscript (Coplea). Callie practices daily; Coplea about 1-2 x/week.
Math: Continuing with MathUSee, both girls are doing well with the daily lessons and weekly tests. Callie - skip counting by 10, place value, solving for the unknown; Coplea - feet/yards, teaspoons/tablespoons, equivalent fractions, quarters/dollars.
Science: SEEK!!!!! Science Enrichment Education for Kids at the Arkansas 4-H Center started on December 1st. The girls attend the program from 9-2:30 each Friday, and they LOVE it! What a great program the Cooperative Extension has put together for these homeschoolers. Callie is learning (so far) about plants and plant parts, while Coplea has investigated geology and Arkansas geography. Chad also helped the girls to press flowers, a late activity to go along with our previous study of the Victorian Era (but fun nonetheless). Other science-related studies included a look at structural engineering related to the Statue of Liberty.
PhysEd: Enjoying time outdoors as fall quickly becomes winter. . . raking and working on their "garden" are still favorites. Initial evaluations for Upward were held in mid-November. Coplea is anticipating basketball in January, while Callie has chosen to participate in cheerleading instead.
Latin: Coplea continues to do well in her independent study of Latin (now moving on to numbers and such).
Reading: Continuing 20 minute per day reading lessons with Callie, and incorporating more and more "easy readers" now. Coplea is an eager reader, often covering "pleasure" books in addition to her weekly assigned readers (on key figures and events surrounding immigration for these months). Mrs. Katz and Tush was a fun choice for a "light" week of schooling Five in a Row style over the Thanksgiving holiday in Illinois. We all enjoyed it immensely! (it is late March and I just asked the girls what they think of when I say Mrs. Katz and Tush. . . immediate responses: Callie "Such a person!" Coplea "My little Bubelah" and Chad chimed in from the other room, too "Such a person!")
History/Geography: A two week mini-unit on Impressionism gave us an overview of great painters such as Monet, Degas and Renoir. Then we moved on to studying immigration at the end of the 19th Century in-depth. Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, conditions in Europe and elsewhere leading to mass "exodus." . . . it was "all things immigration" in our household for quite awhile.
We also enjoyed a brief look at the history of pizza, taking in some real "Chicago style" deep dish as a family at downtown Little Rock's Gusano's, along with a brief overview of mail-order catalogs and their impact on how people shopped in the late 1800s.
Creative Writing and Typing Coplea looks forward to typing lessons, and often requests to type her hand-written reports from week to week. She has also continued regular "student activity pages" related to the history and literature assignments within Tapestry of Grace - the past couple of months have included immigration journals (as if she were a traveler about to depart) and a cut-out history of pizza project.
Fine Arts: Coplea finished strong in another semester of Kids Love Art, completing a pop art version of Andy Warhol's soup can among other new favorites (several of which we have framed following an enjoyable exhibit out at Camp Aldersgate). We also chose to frame the results of our fun afternoon trying our hands at Monet-style painting - three very different looks from the same view of his "Sunflowers." How fun - I don't know why I don't drag out the paints more often! (On second thought, it must be the clean up!)
Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre: Frog and Toad all Year was a fun play! Glad we made time for it. We also took another morning there to stroll the collections looking for Impressionist or Post-Impressionist works (I gave the girls a bit of a scavenger hunt to follow, but they really just enjoyed walking and looking for themselves)
The Nutcracker ballet was a special treat for which my birthday money was well-spent! We all got dressed up and enjoyed the morning performance followed by a sit-down lunch at Ciao! Italian restaurant downtown (who cares if it's raining?!!).
One of the best projects assigned of late was the life-size (OK, kid-size) Statue of Liberty drawings each of the girls made. We used them to make trivia games for the next Unit Celebration.
Music Appreciation: Sonshine Kids Choir at Fellowship on Wednesday afternoons continues to be a highlight of the big girls' week. They had their Christmas concert at church on 12/10 (lots of rehearsing for that one). We all attended Coplea's piano exhibition at the Easter Seals Rehab center in mid-December as well. She also had a "ConBrio" meeting - piano club at her instructor Sherry Mashburn's home. I was proud to hear Coplea volunteer to take on a role as an officer within that club.
Pre-PreSchool: Caris remains very "into" her daily baskets, and this mom is very grateful for the 20-30 minutes those buy us for completing at least one subject each morning. Caris's favorite words now are "Thank you so MUCH!" What a delight! She repeats everything now. Funny quotes from Nov/Dec - Anytime she hears of sees anything drop, she immediately shouts, "Did it break?" She talks about my mom non-stop, saying "Handy lub me!" And when I mention that Grandy is coming, she always wants to know, "My Emmy Rine comin' too?" (Ryan and Emily Roach) My personal favorite was after Christmas celebrations with the Meyers on 12/23, the Beadles on 12/24, the Fosters on 12/25 and our own family on Christmas night, Caris came down the stairs very slowly on 12/27. Thinking her to be groggy, I walked toward the stairs to greet her and heard these excited words of anticipation, "Open pesents??!" (The mind of a child!) (That same morning, Callie came down late saying, "I heard a spoon, so I knew it was breakfast!")
Cate is becoming more verbal as well. She played with a box lid on 12/21 and with a pretend cell phone the next day, both times putting them to her ear and saying, "LOW?" How quickly they learn! She claps on cue now, and is also trying to put her fingers together to get them to snap.
Other Activities:
Hosting our new friends the Porters for supper in early November - funny, we prepared for the 7 of them (that's alot of food!!) and learned after they arrived that the 4 girls actually live in Idaho with their dad. . . a misunderstanding, but one that provided plenty of food to share with our brand new neighbors (who just moved in that week).
Hosting Chad's soon-to-be manager Mike Hefner and his wife Diane for supper on 11/30 - what a privilege to get to know them, and what a delightful evening of introducing our families.
Chad and Callie's 3rd Daddy-Daughter camp-out November 4-5.
Callie lost her second tooth on 11/5/06.
Explore class at Fellowship each Sunday night - all 4 girls enjoyed the fun during childcare there.
Providing canned goods and other items for families in need as part of the girls' contribution to our church's annual Sharefest.
Chad took Coplea with him to work on a project downtown as part of Sharefest. They were assigned a home that needed a lot of exterior work, and they worked together on the landscaping part of the deal. Someone had said (basically), "Chad, you be in charge of the landscaping." Coplea quickly surveyed the situation and decided, "So, that makes me sorta like the 'vice president'?!" [ Coplea and I planted a dozen boxwoods and bushes along the front of this home in addition to laying out the landscape bed and lining it with wooden edging. Coplea also had the idea of taking the last two plants and utilizing the discarded curved concrete edging that was removed from the front of the home and make small landscaping beds at the front of the sidewalk near the street. They looked great and gave the home some real depth. All who saw it said "Who's idea was this? It looks great!" It really filled her "cup" to overflowing.
After we finished the landscaping work, we filled in the rest of our day helping with some of the exterior painting that still needed to be finished. It was a good experience for both of us. -CJD]
Having a blast as we joined friends at a Maumelle homeschool group's first-ever Thanksgiving feast (held at New Life Church). What a great bunch of families, and what a fun event!
Thanksgiving meal with the Meyers a week ahead of the actual holiday (think we're destined to have at least two of every holiday from here on out!!) Grandy surprised everyone by having sweatshirts screen-printed with each family's last name for a family picture. =)
Charlotte's Web movie and an afternoon at the Peabody (seeing the ducks) for Grandy and the kids.
As is our "tradition", we drove around town looking at Christmas lights. Each year we search for a good neighborhood, and have yet to locate a great one. Hit and Miss for the most part. Maybe next year?
"Grandy camp" moved SE a bit - she came here as our schedules wouldn't allow the whole weekend to be spent in Center Ridge. The kids (including cousins) all enjoyed making gingerbread houses and more, then the downtown Christmas parade (which Chad and Callie participated in with the YPrincess group) before heading to Center Ridge for night #2 and a Christmas bazaar at St. Joseph's Catholic Church there.
A benefit concert for the Davidsons as they prepare to leave for a mission assignment in Uganda. Christmas songs and an evening of dress-up.
12/21 - Dixie Cafe for lunch with McDaniels, Fosters and NANA - her last meal "out," though we didn't know it at the time.
Baking and delivering about 18 full-sized loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread to neighbors and friends. A worthwhile family tradition that we plan to continue (even if it kills us. . . just kidding!)
Saying "good-bye" to Wendy's Aunt Geneva at her memorial service, and learning a hard lesson about going forward with what your heart says to do even when well-meaning family members try to tell you otherwise (a very long story. . .) It was good to be a part of that funeral on 12/23 - so glad my mom could keep things going as it was DURING the time we were hosting the Meyer family Christmas gathering at our house.
Cate's first birthday!!!! A very special birthday celebration attended by Grandma Beth, Granddad and BB, Uncle Don and Aunt Libby and friends and neighbors the Adcocks. We spent the afternoon at The Wonder Place and then enjoyed cake and ice cream and gifts galore. I truly feel like a major bridge has been crossed. We have indeed survived the most sleep-deprived years of our lives - our oldest will be 10 in 2007 and our youngest has crossed into her toddler years. What a milestone!
Until next time. . . .
wendy
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