Week in Review : Five Weeks and Counting!

Our first five weeks of school are done and behind us! I told someone the other day - our weeks are so busy that I seem to blink and it is Friday. I think this year with teaching at AMEN Choir on Wednesday nights, teaching History for our co-op on Thursdays, and teaching at Timothy on Friday makes things seem to go by even quicker. {Pictured above Ava Mae at one of her favorite classes at Timothy - Food Network. Each week the teacher tackles a new recipe while covering important lessons like measuring, food groups, etc.}

The kids are all enjoying their time at Timothy and their classes! We are blessed to have a such a fabulous resource just 8 minutes from our home. And, while I used to really enjoy the break from teaching, when the kids were younger, now my husband and I both look forward to teaching at Timothy on Fridays. This semester my husband has a music appreciation class and I have an American Girl class. I have the sweetest group of girls ever! These 9 girls get along so well and I love hearing all the stories they share with me each week. I will actually be sad when this semester is over and I move on to teaching a different class. 

In other studies, the kids are progressing along well {that's not to say we don't have our rough days - we do}! Devin is adapting well to weekly tests - something new for him now that he is in 5th grade. Lexi has reached a point with her dyslexia that most of the time it is hard to even distinguish she has an issue. Our tutor has worked miracles over the last 2 1/2 years and Lexi can actually, spell better now than her 5th grade brother. It has been a long road and it is so nice to feel like you have finally made it. It is not that her dyslexia is gone but, she is easily able to compensate now and no longer struggles with reading at all. Ava Mae I struggle with keeping busy ... like Devin, most of Ava's subjects come quite easy to her. She ends up finished before the other two even seem to get started so I am finding more creative ways to have her work longer by incorporating apps from my iPad into her school day.

We just finished our 3rd week of our History/Science Co-Op. It is really nice doing these two subjects with another family. The kids just finished memorizing the names and locations of all the continents - their reward was frosty's  from Wendy's. This week we are memorizing as many states and their locations as possible. Devin's goal is all of them, while Ava Mae is memorizing about 1/2. I am really looking forward to moving into other countries.  We will spend two weeks in each major country throughout our trip around the globe. This week in Science the kids studied more about Ecosystems - learning about Forests. They even planted some seeds in their very own miniature greenhouse. We are using My Father's World - Countries and Cultures for our curriculum and spending about 2 1/2 hours each week in class together and then doing some homework throughout the week for each subject.

In other subjects, the girls have begun doing some basic loom knitting using the Knifty Knitter. Work has already begun on Christmas gifts. I even joined in on the fun making an adorable hat for my new niece.
 

Pictured above is how Lexi comes to the school table most days ... between each lesson she is doing ballet/pointe. It is not enough that she spends six + hours a week at the ballet studio dancing plus, another hour helping teach a 3 year old class.