Princess and the pea

Ukulele meet up

Went to try out a free Ukulele class in American Fork. Not much progress was made, but they had fun.

Halloween '13

Pirates DON"T smile, in case you didn't know that.

Yay, for me. Halloween costumes made last December!

Happy 9th Birthday

I can't believe how old you're getting. It's taken almost a decade, but it finally happened, I've gotten a bit burned out on planning birthday parties.  This year we did a simple family dinner instead of a party. You were very mature and understanding about it. I let you request your favorite dish, which you told me was tilapia.  The Abuelos, your cousin Autumn, and Andrea came to celebrate.

Among the gifts, you got a camera from Abuelo, a Nerf bow, new sneakers, a sports shirt, socks, books, slippers (by request), and a renewal on your Ask magazine subscription from Andrea.

MV Cheer '13

 

Sofia was super excited to do the Itty Bitty Cheer for Mountain View again this year.

Homeschooling

Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

4th Grade

Sofia begins fourth grade this school year with My Tech High again and the Provo eSchool.  We continue with our classical curriculum for language arts, Writing With Ease 4 and First Language Lessons 4, All About Spelling levels 5-6, Right Start Math level E, Story of the World Vol 2, RSO Science Earth & Space, as well as some extras we will throw in as time allows such as Meet The Masters for art, Song School Spanish, Song School Latin, a bit of US Geography, a tiny bit of World Geography, Typing, and also her tech class, Cartoon Animation.

Admittedly, this could be the year that breaks the camels back. (Yes, I'm the camel). Sofia marches to the beat of her own drum which doesn't jive so well when it comes down to efficiently getting stuff done in the realm of school work. (It would be no different in public school).  When I first started homeschooling her, fourth grade is as far as I could possibly see going with it into the future. I think that was probably more of a reflection on my own confidence with homeschooling. Now, I feel pretty well prepared to continue into higher grades, but I'm not so sure I have the stamina to do so --growing pains I'm hoping to get through this year. Never the less, the overall picture of her school performance is good and I don't feel there is a better educational alternative for her at this point, where we live.

Her interest in reading has recently been re-ignited after a long hiatus which is a really positive thing. Her weakest subject continues to be writing and expression, though last year's end-of-year test scores through me for a loop with high scores in L.A. and lower than expected scores in math. But her level of success on formal tests usually is a result of how well she can manage to hone her attention on the task at hand. This, of course, is at the center of the conundrum which is Sofia's ADHD story.

So this year, I'm struggling a little between different methodologies, the innate drive to militantly place the core subjects at the top of the priority list and getting stuff done efficiently, and the wiser, more zen desire to prioritize by interest level and energy level. Should we do more "fun" things and ignore the drilling?  Will I be OK if she can't budget her money, or write a three cohesive sentences together (something I still struggle to do even now), as long a she's happily coloring and making pictures with glitter glue?  I don't know.  I would love to think she will learn and teach herself in an interest-lead manner, and everything will magically come out splendidly. But, my type A personality doesn't think so.  So I try to go both ways, which is really neither way, but somehow, I'm trying to find a balance.

First two teeth

Sofia loses, or rather has her first two teeth pulled out. None of her teeth ever got lose, so the bottom, front two teeth were pulled out by the dentists as the adult teeth were already coming up behind them.  I refused the laughing gas. She watched Ice Age the whole time and had no issues with the shots or the procedure. It's been four days now, and she also appears to have complete Tooth Fairy amnesia because she hasn't said a thing about it or asked for her teeth. (More likely, effect of being off ADHD meds right now).

Apple Camp

3rd Grade Graduation

We completed our schooling efforts about three weeks ago.  There wasn't much of a to do about it so I decided to throw Sofia and Marcelo a quick graduation ceremony complete with confetti and diplomas.

The graduation presents, kids kayaks. How fun. We have a tandem adult kayak but someone it seems it would be funner to be a kid with a kid kayak.

I'm so glad I caught these two moments on film digital.  

Between all the aggravation and darkness that children can cause [me], there are these moments of light and hope.

Sofia's reaction as I inform her of our summer homeschool plans.  Yes, learning is year round.  One of her summer school subjects, the 50 States using Little Passports USA Edition and selected books.

Regard her focus and careful deliberation as she reads the intro page.

And then ...

[High five to myself]

Some serious biking

This spring, we've taken quite a few biking trips. Here we are up Hobble Creek Canyon in Spanish Fork.  This was a bit of a tough ride uphill but super fun coming back.  Way to go!

Gymnastics Exhibition Meet

This year, Sofia passed off to Level 2 in gymnastics. Here she is sporting her hand made gymnastics leotard. She was sporting a rather serious look on her face throughout the exhibition. Her favorite part was clearly receiving a medal.

Mountain biking

Holi '13