Little Fishy

While Jacob took swimming lessons, Annabelle happily waited with me...out of the water.  She only really had one lesson before allergies got the best of her.  With a runny nose, a cough, and then hives, we decided to keep her out of the water.  So, Jacob was able to get private lessons.  It actually worked out better, in my opinion.  When Annabelle started feeling better, her lessons resumed.  I am happy with her progress.  Even though there were usually tears before each lesson, she did fine once she finally got into the water.  She even liked it.  When I picked her up, she was always extremely proud of herself and couldn't wait to tell me everything she did.  She seems to enjoy the water a lot more now.  One of her favorite things to do is practice blowing bubbles in the bathtub, and she likes to show us how she can swim like a fish. 

I am very proud of her for trying her best.  Unfortunately, the local pool isn't offering private lessons anymore and all the group classes are filled.  The next round of classes begins in June, so I'm praying we'll be able to reserve a spot then.  In the meantime, I guess we'll be blowing lots of bubbles in an extra full bathtub! 

Daytrip Edventure

The Memory Master celebration continued when we took a daytrip to Edventure, a children's museum.  The kids had a blast and they wore themselves out.  Both of them fell asleep on the drive home. I was glad for that.  On the two and a half hour trip to the museum, I let Jacob have "control" of the radio.  Can you guess what we listened to ?  Yep.  The Classical Conversations memory work cd's.  On the way home, I declared our car a CC-free zone.  Jacob agreed to my terms and promptly fell asleep, but not before singing the presidents song. Of course, Annabelle sang along.

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie

Planting a garden

If only this cookie was real...

The firetruck and firestation was a favorite for both of them.  Check out Annabelle's form as she "slides" down the pole. 

He did it!!

• The entire timeline of 160 events from creation to modern times
• Twenty-four history sentences about U.S. history, including the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
•  Twenty-four science questions and answers covering human anatomy, chemistry (including the first twelve elements in the periodic table by number and mass), and origins
• Skip counting through the fifteens, plus squares and cubes, conversions, and math laws
• All fifty states and their capitals, plus seventy physical features on the U.S. map
• Twenty-four definitions or lists from English grammar
• Latin vocabulary lists and John 1:1-7 in Latin and English
• The forty-four U.S. presidents

Pretty impressive list of information, right?  Even more impressive, Jacob knows it all.  Five year old Jacob.  He knows the answer to every single question.  He can tell you the 160 timeline events without missing a beat.  Ask him to recite John 1:1-7 in Latin, and he'll happily do it.  Ask him about catastrophism.  He'll fill you in.  Ask him to name the parts of the digestive system, and he'll give you a list.  He can show you Puget Sound, Death Valley, the Sonoran Desert, and the Red River on the U.S. map.  He can skip count the thirteens and tell you about the associative laws for addition and multiplication.  The child is a marvel.  There is no other word.

A few weeks ago, Jacob was officially named a Memory Master and I couldn't be more proud.  :)  In Classical Conversations, the ultimate challenge for each student is to become a Memory Master.  To be a Memory Master, the student must demonstrate that he/she has mastered all the information learned during the year.  He recited all the information to me, then a few days later, Heath quized him on everything.  A few days later, he recited all the information to his tutor, then the CC director, who officially named him a Memory Master.  Yay!!

During the last couple weeks leading up to his final review, I was a wreck.  I had that same anxious feeling I used to get before a big college exam.  Jacob seemed unfazed about the whole thing.  He knew all the information and learning it was fun for him.  He loves listening to his CC cd's and loves reading through the history sentences, etc...  Evenso, I felt compelled to make him review a lot more than usual.  I probably got on his nerves.

The thing is, learning is fun for him.  He loves it.  He loves CC.  The week before he became a Memory Master, if we were in the car, you can bet we were listening to that CC cd.  After it was all over, I was never so happy to listen to something else; however, Jacob and I had differing opinions.  He still wanted to listen to the CC cd.  Even now, several weeks later, he asks to listen to it and begs me to quiz him on all the information.  He just can't get enough.

Heath and I are super proud of him for earning the Memory Master title.  After quizzing him one night, Heath walked up to me with a look of amazement.  "I feel inferior to my five year old," he said. "He knows more than I do."

The night after the Memory Master testing, we went out for a celebratory meal.  Jacob chose the restaurant -- Sonic.  "Sonic is a good place for celebrating, " he said. 

We also rewarded him with (what else?) LEGOS.  He got to choose whatever he wanted from the LEGO store when we went to Virginia a few days later.  It was a happy day indeed.  Congratulations Memory Master Jacob!  You did it!! 

building minifigures at the LEGO store

Ready to build!!