Play time!

I've spent the last week as stage manager for Nyah's Shakespeare class play- Much Ado About Nothing- and we still have the performances this weekend! Nyah is Leonato, father of Hero. She hates being a man and wearing a beard, but she's fabulous! Her ability to remember her own lines and often the lines of everyone around her amaze me. Austin is the lighting tech- he's fabulous too! Especially for letting his mom volunteer him for another play!

These 3 chickadees have spent the week at friends' houses- lots of kittens, chickens, dogs, and kids to play with. Every day they've come home happy and dirty with lots of stories to share, but not tired at all! I'm pretty sure I was the first one asleep all week!

Homeschool Days

Homeschool Days

WWI Class at commonwealth - Trench warfare simulation.

WWI class at commonwealth - attempted bombing simulation - we spent most of our time teaching the kids how to use the towels to launch their bombs (wet sponges).

Trying to do classwork

Hanging out while Austin & Nyah are at ballroom

At Utah Children's Theater's Heroes of WWII play

Horse club at commonwealth working on watercolor pictures

Girls working on making posters of themselves with pictures

We swim at the rec center a lot during the winter

Nyah's display at Night of Excellence

WWI class & Sophie at the Hutching's Museum

At a Nutcracker performance

Sewing

Sophie was trying to fix her bean stuffed doll who was chewed on by George

Making a nest after watching Animal Homes

Visiting Santa Carl at the Up House

Homeschool Fall 2015

AUSTIN - 14 - 9th Grade

Seminary

Math- CTC Math and Math for Life, a class through our commonwealth school using the book Mathematician's Are People, Too. 

English- Reading, writing, and discussing through an Argumentation class he's taking at a friend's house. 

History- World War I class through our commonwealth school. I'm mentoring this class- we are reading The Yanks Are Coming & doing simulations and hands-on activities in class. We started with the Marshmallow Challenge. I'll also probably have Austin read World War I: The Rest of the Story and How it Affects You Today and watch documentaries on Netflix or Amazon. 

Tech- He's taking another Java/Minecraft programming class through My Tech High.

Aeronautics & Motorsports- When I talked with Austin about what he's really interested in and passionate about, airplanes and fast cars were at the top of his list. This frees up more of his time to focus on Civil Air Patrol and practice flying with a flight simulator program. We're still working on how to incorporate motorsports, but attending the Pirelli World Challenge near here last month was a good start. And I think I'll throw in some physics, too.

High Adventure- Another class at our commonwealth school that is helping the kids earn boy scout merit badges.

Ballroom Dance

NYAH - 13 - 8th Grade

Math- CTC Math

Medieval Art & History- This is a class through a new-to-us co-op. The teacher is using History Odyssey: The Middle Ages and I did not realize how intense the reading & writing were going to be. I must have paid more attention to the hands-on part of the class description rather than the warning about the amount of reading and writing. So I'm feeling a little anxious about it, but so far Nyah is doing great. I found most of the books, including a couple of the more "textbook" type books on Librivox, so she's been listening up a storm and I've adjusted the rest of the work to better meet her abilities. It's definitely going to be a challenge!

Shakespeare Conquest- Nyah's 2nd year taking this through our commonwealth school. In the last 24 hours she's already read, watched, & listened to 10 plays and is hoping to be High Queen by doing 17 before anyone else in her class. 

More plays- One thing Nyah definitely wanted to do this year is be in more plays! She is currently playing a pirate in a local production of Peter Pan Jr. It's already been a huge growing experience. She didn't get the part she wanted {drama drama drama} and it took a week or two of pep talks and attitude adjustments, but now she's excited and really having a great time at rehearsals. Performances in October for anyone who is interested. 

High Adventure & Quilting- Nyah is also taking the merit badge class at our commonwealth and she's taking a quilting class too.  

Ballroom Dance & Gymnastics

OLIVIA - 8 - 3rd Grade
JOLIE - 7 - 2nd Grade
SOPHIE - 5 - Kindergarten

Olivia's school this year is all about brain health. She's recently been doing neuro-cognitive testing again (every 3 years) and she also had an appointment with a neuro-opthamologist about her light sensitivity and migraines. And I fell in love with this online article: Reading Readiness Has To Do With The Body this summer. The results? 

• Daily Exercise- strength exercises, and swimming, biking, hiking, fitness classes at rec center- it has to happen every day!!
• Meditation- Sitting Still Like a Frog
• Memorization- Poetry & Hand Clapping
• Better Sleep- We were really lazy this summer! Late bedtimes, good-bye bedtime routine, tv before bed- all that needs to change to help Olivia (all of us!) sleep better. 
• Food- making sure she's getting healthy fats and proteins to support her brain growth. 

{These are things that we will be focusing on as a family- we can all use healthier habits & brains! This is probably my favorite part of homeschooling - we do so much together! While Nyah is listening to Shakespeare, we all get a dose of Shakespeare. When Austin & I discuss books, everyone listens and chimes in or asks questions. When we go to Jolie's riding lesson, everyone loves spending time with the horses & barn cats- even the big kids who try to convince us they are too cool to be there. When we listen to Olivia's meditation cd in the car, everyone benefits from it. It's so much fun!}

Olivia's commonwealth classes- Gymnastics, Young Explorers, Horse Club, Math/Science, & Standing Tall. Jolie's commonwealth classes- Daughters of Virtue, Horse Club, Math/Science, and Free Play. Sophie's commonwealth classes- Young Explorers, Horse Club, Grab Bag of Fun, and Free Play. I'm teaching the Horse Club- guess who twisted my arm to do it? 

We attend commonwealth on Fridays, so during our learning time on the other days we will be playing games- Sleeping Queens & Battleship are favorites right now- and working on reading more fluently. Our family membership to CTC Math means everyone has an account, so maybe they'll do that as well. Plus nature walks and art afternoons. And mom reading aloud a bunch. And laying in the grass watching the clouds go by. 

Crowned with Virtue Summit

Our whole family is volunteering with or will be attending the Crowned with Virtue Summit in June. Recently, Austin & I attended a youth training - Austin is page to the head guard and I'm the stage manager. It is a wonderful event- you should check it out if you have a girl 8-12 years old. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Rehearsals this week - it's going to be a great show!

Read-a-thon

Dr.Seuss' birthday-

Snacks-

Fun-

 

Valentine's Day

We had our annual homeschool poetry reading & valentine exchange. This girl was so adorable hiding behind her book while she read. It's definitely a favorite tradition!

Then on Valentine's Day, our family went to a Magic Show - it was very entertaining & lots of fun!

Civil War Battle Simulation

For our Sword of Freedom class, we did a Gettysburg Battle Simulation- basically capture the flag with taped grocery bag balls to "shoot" each other. It was much more exciting than pictures can show!

Math Fun

We are currently reading TimeLife's I Love Math: Alice in Numberland. After each short story there are activity suggestions. 

Austin Shakespeare Trip

Austin's Shakespeare Conquest classes reward for completing all 10 requirements was a trip to the Shakespeare Festival. They had a blast!