April Wrap-Up

Now that April is coming to an end, I thought I should make sure I wrap up the last couple of weeks.  They’ve been pretty busy.  We celebrated quite a few birthdays.  Evan’s dad and my grandma both had birthdays last week.  We went over to Evan’s parents’ house the Sunday before.  I remember that was another beautiful, warm day.  The boys got plenty of time outside.  We also got to enjoy a cookout.

We actually got to celebrate my grandma’s birthday twice.  On her actual birthday we went to a Chinese buffet and then we celebrated with the whole family that Sunday at my aunt’s house.  We worked hard to get a picture with my grandma and her great-grandchildren.  It wasn’t easy.  It is not going to get any easier anytime soon since there will be another baby born in November!

We were also invited to another birthday party last week.  It was for an 8-year-old girl from CC.  It was horse-themed.  I think the boys’ favorite part was the obstacle race.  They had to pretend they were a horse and run through it while being timed.  I’ve never seen Nicholas persevere so much in my life.  He said he ran it over 20 times and I believe him!  Daniel also ran it a handful of times, but I think he may have altered the course a little bit to make it easier on himself.  I guess when you are three, you can do that!

Nicholas had his official CC ceremony on the 19^th.  He received a participation award and his Memory Master certificate.  He also got his Memory Master t-shirt with information from the current year’s cycle.  Evan was also recognized.  He is such a big help to our campus.  Some dads visit once in a while, but he’s the only one that comes consistently.  He helps set up tables and chairs; he makes coffee; he helps out wherever he is needed.  He’s a great asset to our campus for sure.

Front of shirt

Back of shirt

Honoring Evan

And a dessert reception to end the night!

Daniel has about a month left of preschool.  He still enjoys doing school at home too.  In fact, one day I looked down and he just started writing all of his letters on his own.  He is also breezing through his pre-reading program.  He even knows some sight words now. 

Nicholas has just over two weeks left of third grade.  While the schoolwork is dying down, the learning certainly isn’t.  I can really see Nicholas’ love of learning, especially when it comes to his choice of library books.  He wanted to learn more about some subjects that we had touched on, so he got books about Leonardo Da Vinci, space, and the Presidents.  He loves to tell us facts that he has learned.  I hope he never loses that love of learning.

So, that’s a snippet of what we did the last two weeks.  We’re looking forward to May, and hopefully, more consistent temperatures!

Memory Master 2016

We completed our Classical Conversations home school program this past Monday.  It has been bittersweet.  I am ready for a break, but I know we’ll miss seeing everyone on a weekly basis.  We still have our end-of-the-year ceremony next week, so we’ll have one large get together before our “summer” break officially begins.

Each year the students have a chance to become a Memory Master.  In order to do so, they need to be able to recall 24 weeks of information in seven different subjects.  As you may remember, Nicholas was able to do that last year.  This year he definitely was ready to tackle the process again.

He had to test with me, Evan, and his tutor in three different settings.  For the testing with his tutor he wasn’t allowed to miss any questions.  Nicholas definitely knew the information this year and managed to finish his tutor proof in less than 40 minutes (that’s pretty fast)!   The last step was to test with the director of our campus.  For that proof he was tested on 25% of the information as a last check.

We’re happy to report that he is a Memory Master once again!  I had no doubt that he could do it.  That child has a great mind.  Once he applied himself to work on any weak areas, it really was not very difficult at all.  You should especially see him with the geography section.  He can point out the locations faster than you can keep up with him. 

Here is specifically what he learned this year:

-          161 events and people in a chronological timeline

-          44 U.S. presidents

-          24 history sentences to add depth to the timeline

-          120 location and geographic features in Africa, Europe, and the Old World

-          24 science facts (including classifications of living things and each continent’s highest mountain)

-          5 Latin noun endings and their singular and plural declensions

-          English grammar facts (including 53 prepositions, 23 helping verbs, and 12 linking verbs)

-          Multiplication tables up to 15 x 15, common squares and cubes, as well as basic geometry formulas and conversions

That is over 400 pieces of information!  We are very proud of him and how hard he worked!  I’m sure he’ll definitely want to try for it next year too.

Speaking of next year, there will be a couple of changes for us in regards to Classical Conversations.  First, we will have two students in the program.  If you’re four years old by June 1^st and you’re on campus, you have to be enrolled.  That means no more nursery for Daniel.  He will be learning the same information as his brother, but it will be presented in a way in which four and five year olds can relate. 

Second, we will be staying all day instead of leaving after recess.  Once a child is in 4^th grade, they are eligible for the afternoon program.  This is where they learn grammar, writing, and do some fun math games.  Nicholas has many friends in this class and can’t wait to join.

Finally, I will not be a tutor next year.  For the last two years, I have led a class. And, while it worked out well for those two years, I’m ready for a break.  With Daniel starting CC and Nicholas having an extra class, I thought a break was in order.  I will enjoy being a great parent helper to whoever tutors the boys’ classes though. 

While the CC chapter is closing for this school year, we’re still doing school at home.  Nicholas will be done in about a month.  Daniel, however, will have preschool until the last week of May.  I’m sure it will fly by though!