David's Language Arts Assignment

Below is an assignment David completed for his  Language Arts 7 class.  

The current unit is a complex study on our societies view of heroes. 

He did this assignment 100% independently, no help from me or his instructor.

I just got a chance to read it today.

It is one thing for him to write this content, but entirely another proud moment to know that he posted this assignment to his discussion blog for his JEDI public school class to review and grade. All his fellow students will be required to read and comment on his paragraphs.  

Here is the Assignment:

Discuss your thoughts on heroes and heroines. To keep things simple, we can use the word hero to mean both male and females. Answer the following questions in your discussion: 

• What makes someone a hero?
• Do heroes have special qualities?
• Did heroes only live a long time ago? 
• Are true heroes superhuman?  
• Do they have to be? 
• What heroes do you know about?
• What makes them heroes? 

Comment on some of the entries of your classmates

Here is his post:

What I think makes someone a hero is that he must do the right thing at all costs. Heroes are here even today. Even people that just help out other people are heroes in my opinion. They don’t have to be superhuman to be a hero. They just need to do the right thing. Jesus is my hero. He came from heaven as a baby and never did a sin in his whole life. He healed people, performed miracles, and even raised others and himself from the dead. He taught others what we should do, should not do, and much more. He died because he was crucified by the Pharisees who were being hypocrites and wanted the people to follow their laws and not God’s. They also wanted to believe that they were better than everyone else. Jesus was the ultimate hero.  I think Jesus should be #1 in the hero’s hall of fame.

The first miracle that Jesus did is this. Jesus is at a wedding when the servants tell him that they are out of wine. So he stands up, walks over to the barrels of water and turns the water into wine. That was his first miracle. Some of his other ones include him healing the blind, deaf, people who are unable to speak, injured, leapers, and even raising the dead. He once was walking on a path when he came to a fig tree but it didn’t have any fruit on it so he said to it, “wither up and never grow again!” and it did.

David Guitar Solo Ensemble

I am so proud of David. He competed in his first graded guitar competition.  He performed 2 songs: Adrian and Graduation.

He recieved these remarks from the judge :"Awesome! You have some good confidence when you play. Great Job!"

He received the highest score possible and was graded superior. 

His daily practice really paid off. He wasn't even nervous. I remember doing solo ensemble as a girl and I was always freakin' out. David was cool as a cucumber. 

He noticed many other participants trying to cram for their performance time.  He commented to me: "Hey, if they aren't ready by now one last run thru isn't going to help much." Ahhh, now all he needs is to realize that the same  concept applies to most responsibilities in life.

So proud of him, not just because he got a top score, but because he really has great character inside.  He makes his momma proud.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Paul

Caleb and our government

Here is a quick post on Caleb's social studies class.  I enjoyed seeing Caleb complete this assignment on how our governmental power is distributed.

Caleb's Opinion Paragraph



Vacation
by Caleb
I need to go on vacation. 1st, I think we should go to Georgia for vacation,
 because it is warm. It is closer to the equator and you don't need a jacket!
 2nd, I need a break off school. School wastes my time.
  I need family time! That's why I need vacation time.



Getting updated

It has been 3 months since I posted last.  That will tell you how busy we have been.
I have to admit that this year's school has kept me on my toes.

All 3 boys are home this year. David is in 7th grade and we began the year with him open enrolled into the Appleton school district virtual school.  We withdrew him within 10 days.  That will tell you how well it worked for him. His teacher was over tasked with more than 40 students. She had no lesson plans prepared and it was over-the-top frustrating for both David and I.  We had no idea what we were suppose to do for the Language Arts or Social Studies lessons.  He had a different teacher for Math (he was enrolled in 8th grade math due to his advancement).  That teacher was on the ball! Boy, I wish he taught all the classes.  We would've stayed.  Everything was clearly laid out, links were working and overall it was very easy to follow. We requested another 7th grade teacher but there was only 1 for that grade.  No wonder we couldn't even log in to her room.  What a mess.  So we punted. We contacted the Department of Education and filed our home school form. We scrambled week 2 of school and bought all our curriculum to be shipped ASAP.  I stayed up for days lesson planning to get us caught up.  

Caleb is is grade 3 and he also is home.  Caleb was also enrolled with Appleton school district virtual school and he is having a great experience.  We withdrew David, but we continued with Caleb.  His teacher  is wonderful.  Everything we need to do is well planned and communicated.  The standard of education is obviously higher in Appleton than here in Evansville.  Our district really has a long way to go. We are very pleased with the virtual school experience Caleb is having.  It is a true indicator that the teacher makes all the difference.  Caleb has done a number of  writing projects that are WELL above the level of the 3rd grade classes at our local school.

Nathan is home as well.  He is technically in kindergarten due to his September 8th birthday.  However, he does 1st and 2nd grade class work with me. He reads chapter books while his peers are learning their vowel sounds. He is learning how to carry and borrow in 2 and 3 digit addition and subtraction while his peers are learning how to count to 50.  Don't get me wrong, he will attend the public school just as the other boys have done at some point. He will get a year of pure social education, just as David and Caleb got.  Nathan will really thrive in the school environment due to his disposition.But for now, I plan to give him a big educational head start.

The boys are all in swim lessons and will continue with that thru the winter.  David and Caleb will start wrestling in about a week.  This, on top of AWANA and music lessons, means we are more busy than I would like.  I can't even make a grocery list, between all the responsibilities.  I longed for the days of preschool to be over and here we are.  Now it is go, go, go. I have entered the taxi driver stage. I do have to admit that I love them at this age.  It is a rare thing for them to interrupt my sleep, I don't wipe anyone else's bottom, and at swim lessons no one accompanies me into the ladies locker room.  WHOOT!

Our everyday commitments keep us busy, but add on the events of a normal life and we have been playing defense more than I would like.  David has been doing farm work part time, our dog got fleas in September, my phone got dropped and I lost all my pictures and videos, and someone bashed John's car side mirror off while parked at work.

I am thankful though, all of us made it thru October without pneumonia from the moldy leaves. There was a lot of sickness in my Cubbie class.  Those little Cubbies are adorable, but I knew I was increasing my chances of getting sick by being their teacher.  We sanitize and teach kiddos how to cough in their elbow a lot!

I wish I had pictures of the last 3 months to add, but they are lost forever. Sigh.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving pilgrim hat cookies - YUM!