all things important

I can't believe another year is coming to a close! We have done so much, learned so much....

It's hard to keep it straight in my head, and my attempts to blog at least once a week have gone awry.. not enough time, but certainly not, not enough experiences...

I promise to try and do better next year :).

Right now I am up way too early and the house is quiet, which I seem to need in order to collect my thoughts and actually write them down.

The girls are loving girl scouts, we just finished their investiture ceremony this past week. They loved being a part of it, doing their skits with their troop, lighting the candles for their participation, helping to decorate. A. and I also made a batch of snowman shaped brownies in honor of her being a first year brownie. It's wonderful as well to have most of her friends in her troop... J. has had a bit rougher time but she is liking it and is enjoying the opportunities they are getting in all sorts of areas of life.  A few weeks ago they got to meet 2 successful business ladies and got to 'create' their own companies, make scented satchels and perfumed bath oils.  I am hoping that things keep going as smoothly as they have been the last few weeks there.

Their dance recital was last Sunday and they did very well, they remembered the dance steps and executed them almost perfectly :).  I am happy that in their small class all of the girls are friends and get along very well. A.'s friend Jo. is there now as well and they are loving it! We do play dates in the neighborhood playground after dance classes some weeks and the girls have had a chance to get closer this year with both of them participating in girl scouts as well as dance class.

The last art class for the season was last week as well, and J. finished up a few art projects and brought home her matryoshka doll she made from baking clay and acrylic paint. She has made a few really good sculptures this year. She seems to really enjoy working with clay and creating with her hands. I have to post some of the things she has made.

Another thing that I am happy about is that her love of reading has blossomed into a nightly reading session in her bed till about 11:15 every night. She wouldn't be able to do that if she were in school... :)
She now sleeps with books in her bed, on her floor, scattered all around her room. Her new interests are non fiction research guides from the author of Magic tree house, as well as non fiction books about animals, Egypt and some fiction books as long as they are funny. The library card is getting a lot of use in my house. :) The weekly trips to B&N (while me and A. waited for her to come out of art class) have also netted us about a dozen books. Love me educator's discount.

F. has been taking weekly science classes in the city the same day as J. takes her art and only 5 blocks away. He has learned about water and its properties, some early physics, a bit about DNA, nature and plant life in CP as well as a few other things I can't recall right at the moment. We had a bit of a rough start there as well due to some misunderstandings with the teacher. But we worked it out like good adults should... I hope that proved to be a lesson for him... it certainly was for me. I do not have to make friends with all people and I do not have to like someone to be able to let my child learn from them ( as long as they are good to my child and treat them well and prove to be a decent teacher). The good thing about homeschooling is that if this proves not be the case I am free to withdraw my child from any classes and either get my $ back or forfeit the $ but keep my family intact.

I have heard too many stories about problems at school with teachers, students, even administrators and the parent is practically powerless to do anything about it, short of removing their child and homeschooling them. I have not forgotten for a day these last 6  1/2 years how lucky we are to be able to keep our children home.

A.'s reading has been improving steadily, but what has greatly improved is her writing abilities. She really likes to write and has been practicing almost daily some weeks. Her spelling is improving but it's mostly her grammar and sentence structure and understanding of punctuation that has gotten better. I love to read what she writes... and she picks the cutest and funniest places to do it... inside a box, under the table, under my bed, and she is free to do it when the mood strikes her for the most part.

I am looking forward to spending another Christmas with my family all together. :)