When the kids were young, I found my summaries of what we were doing with their education so fun to read and much more interesting than report cards or progress reports that just included letter grades and a few comments.
Anyway, it's that time of year again. I'm going to start with Annabelle:
Annabelle Deborah Schneider-Farris - Year End School Report 2010-11
For the past two years, in addition to doing school work at home, Annabelle has been enrolled in Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy (a homeschool supplement program). Through that program, she's been given formal classes in language arts, writing and spelling, history and geography, art, music appreciation, science (including lab classes), Spanish, and computer technology. In addition, opportunities were available in drama, dance and theater, piano, voice, Medieval and Renaissance culture and history, martial arts, fencing, baton, and yearbook club.
Mountain Vista's program was so extensive, that we only needed to do math and writing and literature at home. We also discussed political events and history.
In addition, Annabelle's figure skating activities took up much of our time. She competed at the regional, sectional, and national level in both pairs and ice dancing and passed several US Figure Skating tests in singles, pairs, and ice dancing. She also took formal ballet, modern dance, and piano lessons and participated in dance and music recitals.
Annabelle took strength and conditioning classes at the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She went on regular ski trips, played tennis, went swimming, and went roller skating.
With her girl scout troop, she earned badges in cooking, hiking, camping, art, architecture, science, music, dancing, and crafts. She advanced to being a Cadette scout.
We also traveled to Washington DC during the summer of 2010. That was probably the most memorable educational field trip our family has participated at to date. She saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, went to the White House and an accompanying museum, went to the house that Lincoln died in, and visited the World War Two Memorial. In addition, we visited natural science and art museums locally as a family. It should also be mentioned that Annabelle also got to take part in "being a part of history" when she attended the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver.
In addition to secular studies, after attending Camp Ramah of the Rockies in August of 2010, Annabelle requested more education in Hebrew and religious studies. She registered and took part in Temple Beit Torah's religious school for the 2010-11 school year. She will attend Camp Ramah again during the summer of 2011.
Goals for 2011-12 and beyond include mastering and improving at certain essential math skills, becoming more fluent at reading and understanding Hebrew, and improving at reading comprehension and writing. In addition, a major goal is to continue to improve at figure skating since Annabelle spends two to four hours on the ice each day, 5 days a week. Annabelle will advance to 6th grade at Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy. She is excited about the challenges that will come with the new school year.
Rebekah Abigail Schneider-Farris - - Year End School Report 2010-11
Like Annabelle, Rebekah has attended Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy's homeschool supplement program for the past two years, and through that program, she too has been given formal classes in language arts, writing and spelling, history and geography, art, music appreciation, science (including lab classes), Spanish, and computer technology. In addition, opportunities were available in drama, dance and theater, piano, voice, Medieval and Renaissance culture and history, martial arts, fencing, baton, and yearbook club. Rebekah took part in everything and excelled in all areas. She also took part in two drama productions.
At home, Rebekah worked on her American School of Correspondence curriculum. She completed courses in math, biology, U.S. history, psychology, career planning, physiology, and English and received "A"s and "B"s in those courses. Although she was enrolled in 9th Grade at Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy, she is a bit ahead academically, and is nearly completed with 10th grade in her core subjects that are part of the American School's curriculum.
In addition, like Annabelle, Rebekah's figure skating activities took up much of her time. She competed at the sectional and and national level in ice dancing and passed US Figure Skating tests in singles, pairs, and ice dancing. She also took formal dance and piano lessons and participated in music recitals.
Also, like Annabelle, Rebekah took strength and conditioning classes at the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She too, went on regular ski trips, played tennis, went swimming, and went roller skating.
As mentioned before, we traveled to Washington DC during the summer of 2010. That was probably the most memorable educational field trip our family has participated at to date. She saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, went to the White House and an accompanying museum, went to the house that Lincoln died in, and visited the World War Two Memorial. In addition, we visited natural science and art museums locally as a family.
In addition to secular studies, after attending Camp Ramah of the Rockies in June of 2010, like Annabelle, Rebekah requested more education in Hebrew and religious studies. She decided towards working towards having a Bat Mitzvah ceremony and has undertook an intense study program with Rabbi Don Levy during the Spring semester of 2011. Her Bat Mitzvah is scheduled for Friday, June 17, 2011 at Temple Beit Torah in Colorado Springs. The ceremony will show off all that Rebekah has accomplished in reading Hebrew and religious studies. She will also attend Camp Ramah again, this time for an entire month, during the summer of 2011. She hopes to take part in horseback riding, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, and hiking during her camp experience.
Goals for 2011-12 and beyond include completing more courses through the American School of Correspondence and to begin SAT/ACT preparation. In addition, a major goal is to continue to improve at figure skating since Rebekah spends two to four hours on the ice each day, 5 days a week. Rebekah will advance to 10th grade at Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy. She is excited about the challenges that will come with the new school year.
Joel Benjamin Schneider-Farris - Year End School Report 2010-11
Like Annabelle and Rebekah, Joel has attended Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy's homeschool supplement program for the past two years, and through that program, he too has been given formal classes in language arts, writing and spelling, history and geography, art, music appreciation, science (including lab classes), Spanish, and computer technology. In addition, opportunities were available in drama, dance and theater, piano, voice, Medieval and Renaissance culture and history, martial arts, fencing, and yearbook club. Joel took part in everything and flourished in all areas. He also took part in two drama productions.
At home, like Rebekah, Joel worked on his American School of Correspondence curriculum. He completed courses in math, biology, U.S. history and geography, career planning, physiology, speech, psychology, and English and received "A"s and "B"s in those courses. He was enrolled in 10th Grade at Mountain Vista Homeschool Academy, and has completed about one-fourth of the 11th grade in his home study curriculum.
In addition, like Annabelle and Rebekah, Joel's figure skating activities took up much of his time. He competed at the sectional and national level in both pairs and ice dancing and passed US Figure Skating tests in singles, pairs, and ice dancing. He participated in music recitals.
Also, like Annabelle and Rebekah, Joel took strength and conditioning classes at the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He too, went on regular ski trips, played tennis, went swimming, and went roller skating.
As mentioned before in Annabelle and Rebekah's reports, we traveled to Washington DC during the summer of 2010. That was probably the most memorable educational field trip our family has participated at to date. He saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, went to the White House and an accompanying museum, went to the house that Lincoln died in, and visited the World War Two Memorial. In addition, we visited natural science and art museums locally as a family.
In addition to secular studies, Joel will attend Camp Ramah of the Rockies in June of 2011. He continues to study Hebrew with Partners in Torah. He, like Rebekah, hopes to take part in horseback riding, rock climbing, kayaking, and hiking during his camp experience.
Goals for 2011-12 and beyond include completing more courses through the American School of Correspondence and to begin SAT/ACT preparation. Improving at basic math skills is also on the agenda. In addition, like Annabelle and Rebekah, a major goal is to continue to improve at figure skating since Joel spends two to four hours on the ice each day, 5 days a week. He is excited about the challenges that will come with the new school year.
