06 May 2011

Weekly Wrap-Up: Dogwood Festival

We really tried to get back into the swing of things this week(and last week and the week before that...). Really, really. Getting back into the school groove since moving has proven to be more challenging than I expected. When we went for our assessment (which I realize I never wrote about the way I usually do), she suggested I simplify our schedule and focus on the basics (math, reading), getting settled and spending time with Mom. I thought that I could not possibly do such a thing, but, the further I get into this, the more I'm considering it. I am planning topics for science and history over the next few weeks that I think the kids will enjoy, and I've reserved some new Five in a Row books, but we'll see how things actually work out. Next week will be better (I hope).

This week brought us one step closer to long division. It's going slowly, but, I expected that. If I had taken the time to write about our assessment, you would know that both my kids need a special 90 minute eye exam that very well may answer a lot of questions. For example, why is my extremely bright child forgetting the basics as soon as a math problem becomes complex(like, how many times does 3 go into 6...um. He's got that down)? That's what we've been facing this past week. I am taking it slowly until we get the eye test done, which I am hoping will be in June.

Ava is reading a 1930s reader right now called Boys and Girls at Work and Play. Mom gave it to me, and I keep meaning to ask her where she got it. Ava is loving it. I've been paying close attention as she reads to me each day. Dr. Holinga, our assessor who I highly, highly recommend(CLICK HERE if you live in central Ohio and want to check out her site), suggested that I keep Ava's lessons at 5 minutes for reading. Instead, I've been paying attention to when the mistakes start happening. This is working very well since, as soon as she misses 4-5 words which I know that she knows, we stop for the day. It happens somewhere between 7 and 10 minutes every single day. Isn't that interesting that Dr. Holinga called that so well? This makes me think that the eye exam really might move us toward a better learning environment for both kids.

Being back in my hometown has proven to be wonderful for me. The Dogwood Festival, which is a local festival focused on supporting the arts (You so know the McEvoys had to be part of that!), was this week. I remember performing at the lunch hour concerts and at a special recital they held at The Pomerene Center for the Arts. Those are great memories! 

On Wednesday, we got to see my high school alma mater's jazz band, choir and Caribbean drum ensemble perform. The jazz band sounded fantastic! The choir did an a capella piece called Shout to God that was gorgeous! And the Caribbean drum ensemble? Incredible! I kept thinking about how much my sister, who is a percussionist, would have loved, loved, loved to be a part of it if they had offered it when we were in high school. They were amazing! I would actually go hear them again and again! They were truly talented high school musicians.

Yesterday, we also headed to the town square for the lunchtime concert. The Warsaw Honor Choir was singing. Warsaw was my elementary school. I promise we didn't choose the days we were going to attend because of loyalty. It's just the way it worked out. If we weren't stuck at home with one child suffering from pink eye, we would have attended another local high school's performance today. Anyway, the choir was very good. They did several patriotic pieces, some familiar show tunes and ended their concert with a Michael W. Smith song called All is Well that warmed my heart. It's nice to be back in a community that still honors God in these ways.

Last night we headed to Lake Park to let the kids play and to enjoy the fact that it was NOT raining for a change. Afterward, we sat by the lake and sang some worship songs and had a special family prayer time since it was the National Day of Prayer. Side note...On our way to the park, there were people surrounding the court house square reading the Word out loud. It was a powerful sight!!! We had to roll down the window to listen. Anyway, worshiping at Lake Park together was glorious. I don't think we'll wait for the National Day of Prayer to do that again.

As I said, we've been home all day today since Lukas has pink eye and a head cold. He's miserable! We were planning to attend a free concert at First Friday this evening, but we're settling in to watch Voyage of the Dawn Treader instead. Actually, I'm finishing this after watching the movie. It was pretty good. It strayed from the book and made it a little scarier than I would have liked, but the message was the same overall.

That's a wrap on this week's happenings. For more creative ideas, words of wisdom and general info about the ins and outs of homeschooling, visit Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

3 comments:

  1. We did a Chronicles of Narnia study this year and read Dawn Treader right before the movie came out. I was so distressed at the movie! I've been reading the Narnia books all my life, so it was devastating to me how different the movie was. But my kids enjoyed it!

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  2. We have a Dogwood Festival here, too. Unfortunatly, I got my dates mixed up and thought it was this weekend and missed it because it was last weekend. Maybe next year! Hope your son starts feeling better!

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  3. We live in Ohio. Just discovered your blog. Will have to check out that reading link. We have many special needs issues to tackle and Grove City wouldn't be that much of a drive for us. Thanks for the info.

    Look forward to reading more of your blog.

    Renita
    www.krazykuehnerdays.com

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