Swim Lessons

I have been wanting to put the boys in swim lessons forever and finally there were some in Stockton. They both absolutely loved them and both improved their swimming.

Benjamin learned all of the different strokes and now can pretty much swim by himself.

Carter learned some basic strokes and got a lot more confident in the water. Everyday at the end of class the kids were allowed to jump off the diving board, but Carter never would. Finally, on the last day I told him he had to at least walk to the end of the board and think about it. So he walks to the end of the board and just jumps in. He loved it so much he didn't want to stop. Even after the instructor that was catching them left, he still wanted to and jumped in with no one to catch him. It scared me. I was thinking I was going to have to jump in to save him, but he swam as hard as he could and made it to the edge.

A New School Year

We are starting our new school year, and I am so excited. Benjamin is going into 3rd grade and Carter is starting 1st. I started using Ambleside Online last year and have really fallen in love with it. We will be using it again this year.

Here is a condensed plan for each boy for this year.

Benjamin

History:

He is finishing up the middle ages and starting the renaissance which includes the discovery of America. He will be reading biographies on Joan of arc, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Shakespeare. He will also be reading about Marco Polo's journey.

Literature:

His main lit. books are The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, Children of the New Forest by Marryat, and American Tall Tales.

Science:

He is using Pagoo by Holling Clancy Holling to learn about the life of a hermit crab and Exploring His Creating through Astronomy.

Math:

He is using Rightstart Level D which continues mastering multiplication and introduces division.

Carter:

History:

He is reading short stories about important people in American history in Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans.

Literature:

His main books are Stories by Beatrix Potter, Among the Pond People, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Fairy Tales.

Science:

His main focus is different bugs that he read books about and then make lapbooks for.

Math:

He is in Rightstart Level B. He is learning about addition, money and time.