We finally took a one week break during Thanksgiving.  We spent the week visiting my mother in Fort Worth, Texas.  We had a wonderful time visiting Grandma and our cousins.

Now in week 16 we have studied Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and the Revolutionary War.  Next we will begin studying how the colonies became states.  The children have done a wonderful job as I have incorporated many of the teaching methods of Spalding.  The book The Writing Road to Reading has been useful as I have desired to focus on teaching Spelling, Writing and Reading from a phonetic approach.  I have seen tremendous improvement in Sydney and CJ’s reading ability and their ability to decode unfamiliar words.  I include Brianna in many of the lessons to reinforce her phonetic understanding.

The kids have started attending an enrichment program on Thursdays.  This one day a week program offers the kids another opportunity to develop friendships with other homeschooled children.  During the enrichment day the children learn Spanish, music, art, science, computer technology and P.E.  This has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool program.  All of the children in the enrichment program are homeschooled and many of them are also in our homeschool group.

As Christmas approaches, the children are learning more about Advent.  Advent is a time of preparation for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birthday we are focusing on the reason for this season.