Moving Up ... new link

The kids are moving up in grades.  Here's our new link beginning with our summer activities.
Please re-direct your browser, so you can stay caught up.

http://richhomeeducationgrade5and1.blogspot.com/
 

Lilly's Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

We invited the grandparents (via Skype) and Aunt Alice & Uncle Charlie to Lilly's kindergarten graduation ceremony.  It was a wonderful time of prayer, blessing over Lilly, and presentation of diploma.  Lilly wore a red cap and gown, previously worn by me in my kindergarten graduation ceremony in 1974 (exactly 40 years ago).

Lilly's Kindergarten Graduation Open House

On June 1st we had a kindergarten graduation open house for Lilly.  We invited our Home Fellowship group, neighbors, and Barton House representatives.  It was a lovely time.

Last Day of School

Today was our last day of school.  We met our friends, the Kroenings, at LAFitness (so Jen and I could workout together and the kids could play together), then we stopped at Jamba Juice for a special treat (got a great gift card from friends), then we came home to complete our school work for the year.
The kids did their inquiry presentations and then we finished with our last two of the 50 United States - Alaska & Hawaii.  The presentations the kids chose this time were:
Micah - 1.  Reciting the preamble of the Gettysburg Address; 2.  Demonstrating and explaining earthquakes; 3.  Playing "America" on the piano
Lilly - 1.  Reading one of her books 'Where's Little Mole?'; 2.  Monologue/skit from On The Banks of Plum Creek; 3.  Using a map to show/tell the 7 continents, 5 oceans, and the equator

It's been another great school year.  We'll have Lilly's graduation Open House this Sunday evening and her graduation ceremony (via Skype with grandparents) soon after.

Eastside Explorers' Annual Camping Trip - Memorial Day Weekend

Gymnastics Developmental Showcase 2014

Lilly participated in the North Valley Gymnastics Showcase yesterday.  She has been progressing nicely and is now in her 2nd 'invitation' class - Petite Elite.  She has two 90 minute classes per week, working with Coach Cristie on Tuesday morning and Coach Dana on Saturday morning.
The showcase included the Boy's Mighty Rockets & Boy's Level 3 groups, and the Girl's Mini Elite, Girl's Petite Elite and Girl's Junior Elite groups.
The program consisted of 4 routines, where each gymnast performed individually, and a 'photo op' station.  They all had matching leotards and looked very professional.  At the end each child was recognized for their efforts and received a metal.  Lilly was giddy the entire time.  She performed well and enjoyed herself.

Lilly's scores were:

• Vault:  9.7
• Bars:  10.0
• Beam:  9.9
• Floor:  9.6

Girls - Mini, Petite, and Junior Elite groups

Petite Elite Girls

Lilly on left - floor performance

Lilly - balance beam performance

Lilly - vault performance

Lilly - bars performance

Lilly, Kelsey & Ruth (friends and classmates)

Our new friend Nancy

Nancy Olson is a triple negative breast cancer patient at Mayo Hope Lodge.  She is from Chicago, IL and in order to reside in the Hope Lodge while she is here, she needs to have someone stay overnight with her.  Her husband was here for 6 weeks (beginning in January) and then had to go home and continue working.  Nancy contacted Scottsdale Bible Church and connected with our breast cancer coordinators.  She now has someone staying with her on a regular basis.
We met Nancy when Betty (her regular roommate) scheduled a trip to CA.  I was excited for the opportunity to support and befriend Nancy.  I'm including this as part of our school blog because it was a terrific learning experience for our entire family.  The kids went with me to meet Nancy, and one evening Lilly and I brought her over to our house for dinner and entertainment.  I stayed overnight with her for 3 consecutive nights.
The Mayo Hope Lodge is a wonderful place for cancer patients and their families.  It's a great community environment. It was a good for our family to learn about it and what they offer.  You can click here to find out more:  http://www.cancer.org/treatment/supportprogramsservices/hopelodge/phoenix/north-phoenix-about-our-facility

AZ Game & Fish

We scheduled to go to the AZ Game & Fish Expo (2nd year) through the Eastside Explorer field trips.  It's a free event and lots of fun!  This year we were watching our neighbor girls (Millie & Ollie) for the day, so they went with us.
When we got there we saw Julian (one of Micah's baseball buddies), so he joined up with us.  We had a great time seeing wildlife, testing our athletic abilities to animals, fishing, geocaching, shooting archery, matching animals and their poop, and talking with friends.

March Inquiries

Today was presentation day!  Both kids chose their 2 favorite planets to tell about and, they each had something to recite from memory.
Micah:  Planets - Mars and Uranus; Recited the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States
Lilly:  Planets - Venus and Saturn; Recited the days of the week & the months of the year

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today we reviewed about St. Patrick, who became a missionary of the Christian faith to the country of Ireland.  He used the shamrock to introduce the Trinity to the people there.

Lilly treated us to her own "green concoction" for breakfast - green grapes and LOTS of whipped cream.

Chase Field

We went to Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks play their home baseball games, for a field trip with our Eastside Explorers co-op.  Wow!  It was terrific.  This is Micah, Lilly and I in the Diamondbacks dugout.

SportsKidzAZ

Learning about TN

This is our first state to learn where we have relatives living.  We got "Trudy" (our TN doll, given to Lilly when she was little from Granddad Rich) and she joined us for the morning as we mapped, colored, and read about the state.

Cotton Gin

100th Day of School