Long-Overdue School Update

I can't believe it's been two months since I updated on Ruth's school work! Wow! Where does the time go?! Anyway, things have been going well. Ruth continues to amaze us all the time. And, we are all enjoying this homeschool experience so much.

The last couple of months have brought a bit of a change in our school structure. Ruth (self-motivator that she is) has really taken more responsibility for her school work. Of her own accord, she decided to start setting her alarm 30 minutes earlier so that she could get through her school day faster. She has also been tackling more of her classes on her own, and has been reading more school books just for fun. Jeff and I introduce new material and quiz her very regularly (and very thoroughly), but she is completing the work without much hands-on help from us. She is doing most of her Music and Grammar on her own now, and continues to complete the Portuguese and Spelling lessons (except for Spelling tests) entirely on her own. She is writing longer and nicer stories for Writing class and is also writing more in-depth personal letters to friends and family. She is reading and retaining great amounts of information for History and Science. And she continues to push herself to new places in Math. What a joy it is to see her so enthusiastic to learn anything and everything! And what a blessing to be a part of the process!

Here are some of the interesting school things Ruth has done in the last couple of months:

• Memorized all the prime numbers up to 100
• Memorized the first 20 rulers of England
• Visited the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville
• Finished her Super Friday semester with a parent open house and 2 performances with her chimes group.
• Worked on fractions
• Learned how much of one equals another (i.e. how many cups in a gallon, etc.)
• Made a Moorish feast
• Continued practicing for PSIA Writing and Spelling
• Studied about the times of knights and castles in England and samurai warriors in Japan
• Continued her studies of earth science, including: rain forests, glaciers, endangered animals, jungle animals, desserts, caves and avalanches
• Memorized several new songs on the keyboard, including "Happy Birthday to You," so she could play it for her dad and brother for their birthdays.