Life Lately March 2023

 Here is a peek at our lives during the month of March.

 

a lunch view of Agua Volcano from a "new to us" restaurant in town

 

We worked  hard at school.  Here are the boys doing math and spelling on our white board.  I realized that day that we have definitely outgrown our board.  

 

 

Ben reading on our patio.

 

A new coffee mug my guys bought me.

 

 

This quarter at Encounter Academy the boys are taking an art class and have been greatly enjoying it.

 

I loved seeing the beautiful things they would bring home.

 

We attended a family day at the school.  There was someone there doing face painting and all the kids loved it.

 

Ben read scripture during the program.

 

Ben helping his friend Noah do magic tricks for the talent show.

 

Ben is continuing to take tennis lessons every Saturday with his buddy Josue.

 

 

We made two visits to the Baptist church in San Rafael.

 

David preached on one of those visits.

 

View from the church.

 

David encouraging one of the leaders.

 

We try to attend the Baptist church in Parramos several times each month. The first Sunday of each month they do the Lord's Supper.

I love that the boys can participate with us. 

 

We also spent several days at the Baptist church in San Andres Itzapa hosting a volunteer team from Easthaven Baptist in Brookhaven, MS.

 

We met this sweet family and have enjoyed getting to know them. Our boys became instant friends.

 

We have been improving our patio space and are using it often. We have especially enjoyed sitting out in the evenings with a cup of hot tea.

 

We had supper and a family game night out there.

 

patio view of Agua Volcano

 

Fuego and Acatenango are off in the distance.

 

I love a good sunset view! 

In addition, we visited a Guatemalan theme park in Guatemala City with friends and also a baby shower during one of the Saturday afternoon Bible studies at Parramos.

Homeschool Days September 2022

Here is a look at what we have been learning lately-

 

 Cruz ready to start class.

 

In our Bible reading time we finished the book of Acts. We read James and are almost finished with 1 Corinthians.  At the end of each book Cruz has to give an oral summary for his Awana class.  They also recite a memory verse a week at Awana. 

 

 

During September we studied and prayed daily for the Seminole, Inuit, Deleware, and Lumbee Indians.

 

 

We read these chapter books.  Cruz also read short stories on John Wesley, Harriet Tubman,Gladys Aylward, Menno Simons, and Martin Luther.

 

They love to sit on the couch while doing their reading assignments.

 

In Math, Ben is working on fractions.

 

Cruz in is Pre-Algebra.  

They both take a math test every Friday.

 

Ben working on cursive handwriting.

 

Reading a history lesson. They sit beside me, and we all take turns reading the textbook out loud. We are doing Sonlight American History this year.

Ben practicing his spelling words outside one recent sunny day.

 

Ben taking his weekly spelling test.  Both boys have a test every Friday.

Ben is loving his Apologia study of swimming creatures! During September he learned about pinnipeds. Specifically, he studied seals, sea lions, manatees, and walruses.

 

 

We did a fun experiment to learn how a layer of blubber helps keep animals warm in freezing waters.  We used latex gloves, ice water, and petroleum jelly.  On one hand, we put a layer of petroleum jelly between two gloves.  The other hand only had two gloves. 

 

It was a little messy but that is what makes it fun. The hardest part was getting another glove to go over it.

 

He tested each hand individually to see how long he could leave it in the ice water. 

 

Testing both hands at the same time.  The hand with the extra layer of jelly was much warmer.

 

 

He had a chapter on aquatic herps.  Here he is watching videos on sea turtles.

 

To get a better understanding of how big leatherback turtles are, we went outside and drew an outline on our driveway.  He was quite surprised to see the size!

 

He did a chapter on primeval reptiles.  During this study he learned about fossils.  Here he is mixing mud for an experiment.

 

He was learning how aquatic animals float when they die making it very hard for them to fossilize.  We used a seashell and some Cheerios to demonstrate it.

 

 

In another experiment we used three different types of sediment (sand, silt, and clay) to see which one preserved fossil details the best.

 

Mixing plaster of paris to make his fossil molds.

 

He loved seeing the results.

 

 

Cruz is doing an online self-paced General Science class through Apologia.  He loves the format and it is teaching him great independent study skills. During September his topics were on documenting and interpreting experimental results and scientific analysis.

 

 

Doing an experiment to understand a flame's oxygen use.

He used three different size glasses to test the experiment and timed each one to see how long it took for the candle to burn out.  Obviously, the largest glass had the most air/ oxygen allowing the candle to burn longer.  At the end of every experiment he has to write a lab report explaining the experiment and what he learned. 

 

In September Ben started attending a Homeschool Hub for kids K4- 5th grade.  They meet once a week for two hours and have worship, devotion, library time, and play time.  We have not been able to go every week but have been twice already.  It is a fun outing for him and a great opportunity to be with other kids.

 

Guatemala celebrates Children's Day on October 1 every year.  As part of the celebration the Homeschool Hub planned a fun day for the kids.  They had games, crafts, candy, and a hot dog lunch.  Here they are playing one of the games.

 

 

In addition, the boys joined Encounter Academy for a field trip to a Mayan museum in Guatemala City. 

 

Lastly, Ben is thoroughly enjoying his weekly tennis lessons.  He and a neighbor friend Josue go together on Saturday mornings. Here they are with their coach doing drills.  There are four boys total in his class.   

 

It's now looking like fall in our schoolroom,

 

and our Pac-Man is eating his way through the school year.

 

It was another excellent month of learning and growing.  These are fun days!