We are really focusing full-time on our schoolwork, in hopes that we can all be done with our school year by the end of May. The end is in sight! We know life is going to get busier this time of year, so hopefully we can stay on track. Upcoming events are: Aidan's First Holy Communion April 25th, choir recital (Eileen and Bridget) and Irish dance recital (all four older girls) both on May 2nd, at overlapping times (haven't figured that one out yet!) and the sacrament of Confirmation on May 22nd (Moira, Eileen and Bridget).
I'll post some highlights of late...
Let's start with Molly Grace's latest poem. Kindergarten is the year to memorize several poems by Robert Louis Stevenson. I love him!
The Moon
by Robert Louis Stevenson
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbour quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.
The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.
But all of the things that belong to the day
Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;
And flowers and children close their eyes
Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.
Scratching oneself with a pencil must help with memory work...Ha! Molly Grace is also the first student to complete a subject for the 09/10 school year. Math book is done!
Moira is busy studying medieval European history and just completed a paper on Saint Thomas More. Besides that, chemistry is getting easier; Algebra 2 is getting harder...
Eileen is plugging along with the most challenging grade in our program - 9th grade! She just completed a paper in oceanography on marine exploration, among other things, and next week will begin her final unit in science, studying weather.
Bridget is plugging along with math, Latin (with Eileen), earth science, Acts of the Apostles, and the study of Greece, Rome and Shakespeare. This is the first year that longer papers have been required of her. She wrote a lengthy paper on the Greek Gods. This is not a problem for Bridget because she has been known to write emails to her sister Eileen that have word counts in excess of 1200. (Bridget loves to write stories and does so in this format). At least she's getting her typing lessons in! LOL
Teresa's favorite poem she memorized this year was America For Me, by Henry Van Dyke. She has been reading, retelling, copying and illustrating Old Testament bible stories (David and Goliath was her latest). She is also studying birds. Here is the good ol' robin that thankfully, we are now seeing in our yard on a regular basis ...
Aidan is completing his tasks, although he would much rather play outside, build Indiana Jones adventures with his Legos, get his teeth pulled or read all about whales, dolphins and other sea creatures. He is learning that life is all about balance : )...work a little, play a little. His latest memorized poem was Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.
Erin just keeps us smilin'. She is such a joy...and a busy bee! She loves loves loves ousiiii (outside), now that the weather is warmer. She especially loves the weeeee (swing), and giggles the whole time she is in it as if she is being tickled. She is saying many words and/or word approximations now, including two word phrases, which is exciting! She is learning signs to the letters of the alphabet and can say many of them (thank you Signing Time!). She is walking up steps, rather than climbing. She goes down the big slide with no hesitation. She could read books all. day. long. Loves them! And she is still completely thrilled to see her baby brother Seamus every morning, as if he just joined our family for the first time. After nine months, he's still a novelty to her!
And as for the Seamus....not surprisingly, he's on the move. Crawling, pulling up, pulling things out of drawers, baskets and bins and all the other busy stuff babies his age do. As I type, he is trying to scale the book shelf. He has been nicknamed on a few occasion, Seamus the Shyster. Let's blame that on the teething. But he is, of course, adorable and everyone finds his big, cheeky grins with the big brown eyes irresistible...even when he's in his big sisters' pink stroller.
