Our November Field Trip was to attend a "Holiday Etiquette Boot Camp". It was a great class, led by a fellow homeschool mom who has an Etiquette business where she teaches manners classes to children.
The kids learned many tips for the holiday party season - including the proper way to conduct yourself at a buffet, proper etiquette for the dinner table, the importance of making eye contact with adults when speaking to them, where our napkin goes, how to properly ask to be excused from a dinner table - just to name a few. My daughter, Lexi, who has gone to Etiquette School prior to today, told me it was really great to get a refresher course on everything. My son, who had to be bribed to attend the field trip, told me the class was a lot of fun and nothing like he thought it would be {boring}. Ava Mae was just so excited to finally be able to take an etiquette class - she has been begging to do this since Lexi went to Etiquette School last fall. {Pictured below: Ava Mae shows off her new found table setting skills}
The class concluded with an actual party buffet. The kids all enjoyed picking appetizers and desserts and then practicing their new skills at the table.
Thank you Elizabeth for taking time out of your busy schedule to teach this wonderful "Holiday Etiquette Boot Camp" and if you live in the Atlanta area and are interested in having your children take a manners class from Elizabeth, just let me know and I will get you her contact info.
A big week for Ava Mae ... her baptism this past Sunday and today, she turned 7 years old! Again, I must look at one of my children and ask ... where has the time gone?We celebrated her birthday with a party at Chuck E Cheese, at 2pm right after classes were done at Timothy - so we had just homeschool friends in attendance. This really was a good thing as Ava Mae does not meet a stranger and her original guest list had over 30 names.Everyone had fun playing games, eating pizza, and dancing with Chuck E Cheese.Ava Mae even got into the ticket blaster ... though she needed some help from her brother.Happy Birthday Ava Mae ... God blessed us with you seven years ago. May you always keep that bubbly - outgoing personality, adorable smile, and love for God! Just like your sister God has given you the beautiful gift of dance and a love for the stage and though there are days when I wish you would always stay our little baby I can't wait to see what God has in store for you in the coming years!! We love you so much ...
As my homeschool friends all know I am always on the lookout for a great reading program. While one program worked great for my son, it was a horrible failure for my daughter Lexi, who has dyslexia. We have a great reading program for Lexi but, when trying to use it with Ava Mae she has found it boring at times. Enter Memoria Press' new First Start Reading and Classical Phonics program. I was so happy to test out something different with Ava Mae and being we do a mixture of Classical/Charlotte Mason curriculum I knew it would fit right in.I have been so happy with First Start Reading and Classical Phonics - my daughter really took to the program immediately. The pages in First Start Reading are interesting and keep my daughter's attention. I love that we can combine her practice of handwriting with the phonics program. After just a few short lessons my daughter was reading and writing the words she had learned. The books are the perfect mixture of tracing, reading, drawing, and coloring for Ava Mae. I love the fact that the lessons are simple and direct but, very thorough. The teacher's manual is so easy to follow - anyone can easily use it to teach their child to read.The only hiccup we had while using the program were the word lists in the Classical Phonics book. When I first opened the book to show my daughter without even looking she immediately said "I cannot read those words". After a few minutes of showing her how the word lists would work she was happily working through them. Classical Phonics has a very traditional way of teaching phonics - no pictures next to words cluing the child into what the letters spell - just phonetically arranged word lists {it was originally published in 1913 and was ahead of its time when it came out}.Memoria Press' First Start Reading is a complete phonics, reading and printing program. There are three student books and one teacher's manual - all which retail for $29.95 {a great price!} and can be ordered directly from Memoria Press.Memoria Press' Classical Phonics is a teacher and student guide all in one. It retails for $14.95 and can also be purchased directly from Memoria Press.Would you like to read what my fellow crew mates thought of Memoria Press and the First Start Reading and Classical Phonics program? Then head on over to the TOS Crew Blog.
Disclaimer: I am reviewing this product on behalf of the TOS Crew. I received no compensation, other than a free First Start Reading and Classical Phonics program from Memoria Press, for the writing of this review. The contents of this review express my personal opinion of the curriculum.
Each year our small homeschool group has a Thanksgiving Party. The main reason for the party is for the kids to come together and prepare their Operation Christmas Child boxes.
After finishing up it was time for snacks and one of our groups favorite games ...
The Donut Game {which became a tradition several years ago as an alternative to bobbing for apples - which for us germ-a-phobe moms is a nightmare} We normally play the Donut Game at our Halloween Party but, we ran out of time this year so we moved this fun activity to the Thanksgiving Party.
Yesterday we brought our packed boxes to church. My kids look forward to packing these boxes each year - we always pray for the child who will receive the box! It is great way to start the holiday season.
