Last Day of 4th and 6th Grade May 2022

 We finished our school year on Friday, May 20.  Here is how we celebrated our last day.

 

 

We had a banana pancake and bacon breakfast.

 

We then took a few pictures before we started school.

 

 

We finished our final lessons and also filled out these fun questionnaires.  We always do these on the first and last day of school.   I will add them to their binders that include all of their pages from each grade.

 

I gave out a few certificates.  Here is Ben with his Fix It! Grammar certificate.

 

Do you think he was excited to get this math completion certificate??

 

Cruz's Fix It! Grammar certificate

 

Cruz's Math U See Zeta completion certificate.  He will move on to Pre-Algebra in the fall.  Yikes!

 

A comparison photo

 

We did the first semester of school in the U.S. and finished the school year in Guatemala.  

 

Yay!  We did it!

 

For lunch they chose Taco Bell.  

 

Playing Foosball at Taco Bell in Antigua.

 

Next we stopped by Dunkin Donuts for ice cream and donuts.

 

So yummy!!

 

They went to their last Awana class that afternoon and then we had a pizza and movie night that evening.  It wrapped up a very fun day!

 

We're done!!  

 

 Hello summer break!

 

The following morning we had a community/ family day at Encounter Academy to close out their school year.  The boys participated in the piano recital and both received an award for Awana.  

 

 

Piano certificates and Awana awards

 

 

Ben playing When the Saints Go Marching In at his piano recital

 

 

Cruz playing Standing in the Need of Prayer.

 

I am very proud of their hard work this school year.  It is a little bitter sweet to close out another year of school because it is a reminder of just how fast they are growing up. It's a wild ride and I'm just holding on trying to soak it all in.

Homeschool Days April and May 2022

We finished up our school year on Friday, May 20.  I did not do a very good job at taking school photos the last few months.  In spite of that, here is a look at what we did.

We sang several hymns each morning.  Our new ones for April and May were How Firm a Foundation, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Wonderful Peace, Jesus Calls Us, and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. 

 

We studied the lives of two missionaries- William Carey and Adoniram Judson. These were two of our favorites.  Within our studies we focused on contentment and patience and how these two men demonstrated those in their lives. 

 

This is by far one of my favorite things I have chosen to teach so far.  It is a wonderful missionary study and we were all sad to see it come to an end.  It is fantastic and I cannot recommend it enough.

 

These are the twelve missionaries we studied this school year. I am so glad that my boys know their stories.  I hope it will have an eternal impact on them.

 

Ben working on a Bible lesson one morning in school.

 

 

They read these two chapter books.

 

Ben reading a chapter of his book in the lobby of a medical clinic while we were out one day.

 

David read them this book as a read a loud at bedtime.

 

Ben looking up grammar vocabulary words in the dictionary.  

 

They had one last field trip with Encounter Academy to a Mayan museum in Guatemala City.

 

The tour included a hands on project where they got to make several of these molds out of clay.

 

They took the CAT (California Achievement Test) two days during Easter break.  Here they are walking to the school to take their test.  

 

Beginning mid-April we began to finish different subjects which made for a lighter load as the weeks came to an end.  Here is Ben receiving his IEW writing certificate.  This year he did Intro to Writing using Aesop's Fables.  It was an easy introduction class and I feel like it prepared him well for writing going forward.

 

Later in the month Cruz finished his online IEW writing class.  His lessons were on Ancient History.  We love IEW for writing! It has been a great fit for the boys.

They finished another great year of afternoon classes at Encounter Academy.  They went two afternoons a week and took P.E., art, and Awana.  We are so thankful that the school allows us to participate in their activities.  It has been a wonderful blessing to us!

To celebrate the school year ending, several of the families went out for milkshakes at Ay Carmela in Antigua.  It was a fun outing for the kids!

 

 

These are not just ordinary milkshakes.   They are a called monster shakes.  Cruz's was called Sugar Daddy. 

 

Ben chose Mr. Cookie.  I think they had just as much fun looking at each other's shakes as they did eating them. 

We finished up with a last day of school family celebration.  I will share about that fun day next.

Homeschool Days March 2022

Here is a glimpse of our homeschool activities during the month of March.

I like to decorate our school room walls.  We spent half of our school year in the States so I did not have an overall theme this school year. Instead, I hung some maps that Cruz had painted last school year.  They give a bright pop of color and are also a wonderful visual to remind us to pray for the nations.  Also, we use those maps on a daily basis looking at places that we read about.  I have had them for many years now and they have been one of my favorite homeschool purchases so far.  

 

I normally change out our white board wall each month and do something seasonal.  This is what I added for March.  With the exception of changing the monthly header, I plan to just keep it for the rest of the school year.   This teacher mom is a little tired.

 

 

During March we studied the life and ministry of Amy Carmichael.  Her motto was, "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."  Our focus word for her study was compassion.  What an amazing servant of Christ she was and her legacy continues to be an inspiration to many even today.  We enjoyed learning about her and being challenged by her story.

The boys learned a few Easter themed hymns during March that we would sing together each morning in preparation for the upcoming season. Those included Christ Arose, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, and He Lives.  

 

After Bible, we go right into History.  We did a Mississippi history study our first semester while we were in the U.S.  Since returning, we are reading through this book from Masterbooks that I borrowed from a local homeschool mom.   I have never used any of Masterbooks materials before but I have definitely enjoyed this one.  It is history from a Christian perspective.  Book 1 begins in Genesis with the Creation and goes through the Roman Empire.  We are learning Bible and history all in one.  It has been an engaging study so far.

 

In Literature, here are the books that the boys read in March.  Cruz read Adam of the Road and Ben read The Toothpaste Millionaire.  They also read short stories each day from their BJU Press reading textbooks.

 

 

They will soon finish up their online IEW writing classes for the semester.  I am very thankful to have these classes available online.  It takes a huge load off of me to be able to outsource this course.  Here is Cruz typing a weekly paper that he will submit online and have someone else check and grade.  What a blessing that is.  Institute for Excellence in Writing  (IEW) is an excellent writing program.  I cannot recommend it enough.

 

Ben participating in his weekly online writing class.

 

Ben using his keyword outline to write his paper.

 

We also use IEW's Fix It Grammar, which I love as well.  The two go together perfectly.

 

 

Apologia Science is outstanding.  It is our third year using it and I currently have plans to continue for year's to come.  We chose Earth Science for this school year.  In March we studied cycles (rock cycle, water cycle, mineral cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle.)  The highlight of the study was learning about science careers that go with each of these.  Not only did we read about them in our textbook but we watched several YouTube videos for further learning.  Their favorites for each were:

-Volcanologists and Geologists for the rock cycle

-Marine Scientists for the mineral cycle

-Hydrologists for the water cycle

-Ecologists for the carbon cycle

-Botanists for the nitrogen cycle

 

We currently only have five more school weeks to go but we will be breaking it up with some time off for Easter and travel.  It is quickly coming to an end and summer break will be here before we know it.