Blackfin Sharks, Bowling, Jupiter and Latin - The Weekly Wrapup

This week, we're linked up with Homeschool Highlights at Homeschool Coffee Break.. Be sure to check it out to see what other families have done this week in their schooling :)

It's been a while since I did a weekly wrap up so I figured now would be a great time to let everyone know what the kids have been up to with their studies.

While summer doesn't offically start til June 21st, Mother Nature didn't seem to get that memo.  The temperatures have been extremely high already, reaching up to 104 earlier this week (it's a bit cooler today with it only being in the 80s), meaning it's just too hot for the kids to spend any amount of time outside during the afternoon hours.  While most kids are starting their summer break, we opt to homeschool through the summer so that during the more pleasant spring and fall temperatures, we're able to take a week here or a week there off from our full time studies to enjoy the great outdoors. It makes it so much more pleasant than worrying about sunstroke and 2nd degree sunburns lol

However, our week didn't start off quite like expected.  The area we live in experienced a small earthquake (3.5 on the Richter scale) which caused a bit of damage to the power grid that we are on. Luckily, it was on one of our cooler days this week and happened later in the afternoon.  Thankfully, the kids are use to camping and can handle lack of electricity and electronics without freaking out.  We used what bit of daylight we had left to break out a few board games and opting for a few rounds of "Tapple" and a round of "Beat the Parents".  (Please excuse the poor pictures, the lighting was terrible.  So, excuse the kids wearing the same clothes in everything - for some reason, even though they have tons and tons of clean clothes, they have decided these are their "favorites" this week and keep putting them on - go figure lol ).

Towards the end of Beat the Parents, it was getting pretty dark outside.  What a better time to head outside and do some star gazing then when ALL the lights are out throughout the base, right?

I have to tell you, sometimes when things like the electricity is out and everyone around you is upset, you realize just what you miss when the lights are on.  In our case, as we laid in our grass, enjoying the cooler night temperatures, we had the experience of watching the International Space Station pass over.  Now, this in itself isn't anything new for us, we've often tracked the path of the ISS to determine when it would pass over our home and have gone out to watch it before.  However, on this particular night, a few moments after the ISS passed, we saw a second passing and realized we were getting to see SpaceX's Dragon  on the same path as the ISS, making it's way to meet up for a resupply mission.  Had the lights not gone out, we would have never seen it.

We also decided to break out the telescope and take advantage of the dark skies to do a bit of deep sky viewing.  It's been a while since we actually brought the big scope out.   First we pointed the scope towards the moon and looked at a few craters..

 I took this picture with my phone through the eyepiece, but I really liked the "rainbow" look to it.

After the moon, we opted to look at the next brightest point in the sky, which was Jupiter. We got a really great look at two shadows of Jupiter's moons passing over the surface of the planet, which the kids thought was really cool

We were without electricity for nearly 5 hours, and while the rest of the base took to facebook to complain,  we had a great time and turned it into a pretty educational experience and family bonding time. .

Since it is basically summertime, we are taking a bit off from our really in depth studies in Science.  The kids have really worked their little hineys off doing cellular structure and the likes, so we're taking a break from that course for the summer and we're instead working through a few of the classes with Mystery Science, which is an online course.  This week's mystery was "Why do your biceps bulge?" and gave a great description as to how tendons anchor the muscles to bone and how the muscle shortens and lengthens depending on if it's in a resting or active state.  The kids then created their own Robotic Finger, where they could pull a string that would cause the finger to curl and relax, demonstrating how the tendons in the hand do the same.

The kids with their robot fingers.

 If you saw my review earlier this week about Latin, you'll know that Ashleigh has been enjoying it so much.  So Latin work will continue through the summer.  This is a good thing, since Grandmaw (my oldest daughter's Great Grandmother on her father's side) calls throughout the week and now one of her favorite things is to have Ashleigh get on the phone and recite her Latin prayers to her, so we'll have to continue to give her something to listen to.. lol This week the lesson was on invisable verbs like the words hope and love, and she learned the latin words for "Goodbye", I love, I live in, I prepare, I adore and I judge.  She also added "Hosanna in excelsis" meaning Hosanna in the highest to her recitation of the Sanctus this week.   Here she is doing her Latin assignment. For this portion that she's working on in this picture, she had to read though one of her other books and recognize invisible verbs.

Both kids will continue to work through their Literature/Reading during the summer, especially Garrett who still struggles with reading and comprehension.  Both kids have been reading "Sarah, Plain and Tall" independently as it is the selection both of their curriculum uses. Ashleigh is using it with Apologia's Readers in Residence and Garrett has been reading it for Lightning Literature 3rd Grade (Review coming soon, btw).   Garrett finished the book this week  as his curriculum only uses each book for 2 weeks at a time, while Ashleigh has been working with the book for several weeks now.  However, his curriculum has him reading a chapter or two each day, while her's only has her read a chapter once or twice a week and then spends the rest of the time focusing on a particular aspect of the reading.

For Garrett, this week concentrated on adjectives, sentence diagramming and the difference between fiction and non fiction.   Ashleigh's focus this week was learning how author's use conflict to develop their story and recognizing the conflict that the characters in Sarah, Plain and Tall are currently facing. She also learned about how authors use paragraphs to separate topics and conversations within the book.

This week we decided to go back to using The Mystery of History and pick up with Book 2, which focuses on the history of the Early Church immediately following the Ascension of Jesus until the Middle Ages.  We had taken a bit of a detour over the last few weeks to learn some about American history as we talked about George Washington and read through a few of the Rush Revere books but I decided I wanted to continue down the path with Mystery of History.  We had already completed book 1 and I had book 2 waiting in the wings for a few months now, so I figured it was time to crack it open.  For this weeks lesson, we discussed the Day of Pentecost, and began talking about the life of Paul (AKA Saul of Tarsus).

Here's the kids reinacting the healing of the Lame Beggar at the Beautiful Gate.  Needless to say, I don't think Hollywood will be knocking on our door anytime in the near future. LOL



Math is a subject we will continue throughout the summer as well. This week, we started our focus on multiplication.  Now, the kids do know multiplication from Times Tales but I do want them to be able to do problems without having to go through the whole Mrs Snowman stood on a chair to get 3 buttons and 2 pins, or however the video goes. lol   This week we started with an Introduction to  Multiplication of 0, 1, 2, and 5.

Fridays are going to be our "Field Trip Fridays"..   We were given Lesson Plans through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op for Virtual Field Trips that use videos and live cams off the internet.  This week, we took a "trip" to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland where we were able to watch different live streaming cams.  The kids really had a great time observing blackfin sharks, whip tail leopard rays, Blubber Jellyfish, Emperor Angelfish, Spotted Unicorn Fish and so much more.. They were disappointed that Calypso, the green Sea-Turtle, never made an appearance though. Maybe next time.  It really was a neat experience to turn our television into a life aquarium though.

While not exactly "school" related, we did have a few new things to report. The kids joined up with the Summer Reading Program at the Library on base, where they both received Tshirts to kick off the summer.. The kids goal is to fill up their cards before the end of the summer, which means many hours of reading ahead of them.

Finally, we took advantage of a program that the base was offering for Free Bowling throughout the summer for the kids.  It's really a cool program where we are all able to bowl two games a day, every day, for the entire summer.  While we won't be going every day, it will be our Friday tradition as every friday night they turn on the blacklights have "Glow Bowl"..

Here's our scores from our last game.  They started off using the Slide (that orange thing in the top picture) but quickly got bored of it and have moved on to "Granny Shots".. It's been loads of fun for them and another great family activity to get us out of the house, get active, and have some family time together.

So there you have it, that's the week in review.   Looking forward to what next week brings.

MarshMedia (A Homeschool Crew Review)

If you're like me, you remember the days that you walked into a classroom and saw the TV stand sitting in the front of the classroom and got excited because you know that meant watching a video instead of doing classwork.  Sure, the videos were cheesy and many times they elicited giggles from behind hands as we watched grainy VHS videos about puberty, sexual reproduction, hygiene, and more.  As corny as those videos were, they served a purpose, providing us with the information we needed to know in a format that wasn't too embarrassing for a classroom setting.

Times have changed and those VHS tapes have given way to higher video quality and internet streaming but the educational value that they provide to students is just as imperative today as it was back when I was in school watching them 30 years ago. Even more so, they can be a very useful tool in a homeschool setting where speaking to their parents about topics like puberty might be a bit more embarrassing then it was for us in a classroom full of students and with a teacher who we didn't have to sit across from at the dinner table.  Thankfully, we were offered a preview of the homeschool special from MarshMedia which allowed for us to view the videos that they offered via streaming on the internet to watch with the kids.

What is MarshMedia

 MarshMedia  is a company that was originally founded in 1969 by Joan and Allen Marsh.  Purchased in 2011 by Dan and Brenna Witcher, the purpose of the company has remained the same, to provide health educational videos for students grades Kindergarten thru Grade 8. These videos cover a large array of topics such as hygiene, health, puberty education, safety, immune system disorders, head lice, nutrition, etc.  They also have videos specifically designed for students with special needs as well as thirty one children’s books that are all based on an animal protagonist which discuss character traits such as bullying, teasing, sibling rivalry, etc. Many of these books have also been made as videos which are available as streaming on the MarshMedia website.

Btw, at the end of this review, there's a very special pricing offer from MarshMedia so be sure to read to the end ;)

How We Used Marsh Media and What We Thought

This was a review I really wanted to be on because I have two kids who are both on the verge of puberty.  Granted, this is not completely uncharged waters for me as my oldest daughter is about to be 18 and I've done this before. However, there's a huge difference between girls and boys. I've lived through puberty as a female and can easily explain these changes to my daughters - I have never experienced what it's like for a boy.  How does one go about explaining these things to a child when you haven't experienced them yourself?  Sure, I know the general idea, I worked in the medical field after all and I've also had three kids, so I know the male anatomy but I'll be the first to say, as a parent, the idea of explaining the changes his body is going to go through to Garrett just left me a bit overwhelmed.  It's also not something I wanted to leave entirely to my husband. I love my husband, but I just can't see him handling the discussion appropriately and I honestly think he would be just as embarrassed, if not more so, then I would be.

Because of these reasons, I was pretty excited to allow MarshMedia handle the puberty talk for me. Seriously, I just put on a video, Garrett and I sit down and watch it together, he could ask any questions he might have afterwards (or not) but I get the luxury of allowing someone else explain things like erections and nocturnal emissions without worrying that I left anything out.

I ended up watching several of the videos with the kids.  First, Garrett and I watched a video entitled
"A Boy's Guide to Growing Up", which we found under their "Students with Special Needs" section. This video was roughly 15 minutes in length and covered topics such as physical and emotional changes during puberty, health and hygiene, and the need for privacy and safety.

Okay, let's get the embarrassing stuff over with. These are health videos and honestly, not much has changed since we were in school, both in terms of the material covered as well as the basic format of the presentation.  It's inevitable - health videos will have cheesy music and cheesy illustrations of the human anatomy.  I mean, come on, we're not talking Steven Spielberg or James Cameron directing these things with an award winning soundtrack and CGI graphics.  But lets face it, the format works and it serves it's purpose. Yeah, the music and jingles are cheesy but you know what?? My son walked away from that video with the words "Growing up is an important time, you will be just fine" in his head, a much more important message than a Grammy winning pop song any day.

As expected from a puberty video, we were presented with an animation of a young man without any clothes and as the video approached topics such as body hair, changes in muscle mass and yes, growth of the penis and testicles as well as erections, the animation of the boy changed.  Some might take issue with these types of animations and might prefer a technical diagram but I tend to feel that these types of animations are much less intimidating to the younger audience that these videos would be aimed for.  While adults might like the more technical images, I think kids would feel more comfortable with the animated kid that looks more like them.

 I felt the video did a great job of covering the information that Garrett needed to know without making him (or me) uncomfortable.  It should also be noted, these are not "Sexual Education" videos. They do not cover sexual intercourse or any topics involving things like sexual orientation or gender identification. These are purely "This is your body, you have hormones and this is what is going to happen to your body as those hormones kick in" videos. 

After viewing the video with Garrett, I decided that I would also view one of the puberty videos with Ashleigh. We chose to view "Just Around the Corner - For Girls". This was really just a review for the two of us, as Ashleigh and I have already had the "how your body is going to change soon" talk but I felt it was a good way to review what she already knew, explain what she didn't know in a different way that how I had explained it, as well as cover some topics that I didn't think to talk with her about, such as positive body image.

Where as a majority of the previous video with Garrett was animated, this particular video was more live actors (except with the animation of the body changes which were pretty similar to those of the male puberty video) and showed a wide range of body shapes, ethnicity, ect.  This video covered topics such as hygiene, the maturation of the female sexual reproduction system, physical and emotional changes during puberty,  as well as the need for proper nutrition and adequate sleep.

With puberty out of the way, we've watched a few other videos together and I really enjoyed the variety of topics offered.  From "Go Slow Whoa" - a video that highlights proper nutrition through a game show featuring healthy and unhealthy foods,   "Safety: If You Feel Danger" that helps teach younger student to Stop,  Get Away, and Tell an Adult when confronted with dangerous situations, "Aloha Potter" which is adapted from one of the children's books and uses the story of a colorful Angelfish to teach about bullying, and "Head Lice: An Itchy Problem" which will have you scratching your scalp just from watching it, we found many videos that the kids could watch and enjoy while learning valuable information in the process.

Health topics, especially puberty, is a subject we often times either forget to cover or put off as long as possible due to the sensitive nature of the material.  I'm very grateful that MarshMedia offers videos like these in order to take at least some of the pressure off me as a parent.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR HOMESCHOOL FAMILIES 

Maybe you, as a homeschool parent, would find this resource as valuable as I did.  And you probably clicked the link at the top of this review, went to the website, you looked at the videos and clicked on one and you saw $29.99 to Rent for a 24 Hour Period and thought "That's a bit out of my price range".  Well, keep in mind that MarshMedia supplies videos for the Public School system for use in a classroom setting with multiple students/classes.  However, they offer a Homeschool Special that will give your homeschool classroom full, unlimited access to ALL videos in their streaming library until the end of the year (12/31/17)  for one low price of  $50.  That allows you to view all 59 currently available videos, as many times as you like.  In order to take advantage of this special, go to https://marshmedia.com/pages/homeschool-offer and click on "Homeschool Special".  

For more information about MarshMedia and their extensive library of educational health videos, be sure to visit their website.  You can also visit them on the following social media websites:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MarshMedia.Educational.Programs/ 
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Marsh_Media    Tag:   @Marsh_Media   
• Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+MarshMediaKCMO   
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Clar1ssa1  

K5 Learning (A Homeschool Crew Review)

With today's technology, many homeschool families find that their students do better with subjects such as language arts and math with online programs then with classic texts.  Combining graphics, sounds and a more interactive factor to their learning helps to engage many students more than black and white font on a paper page.

For the last few weeks, Garrett and Ashleigh have been using an online program from K5 Learning to help reinforce many of the skills they have already learned as well as learning new skills that they haven't yet covered.

What is K5 Learning

K5 Learning is a browser based reading and math program aimed for students grades Kindergarten through 5th grade.  Included in the subscription is unlimited access to both Language Art and

Mathematics lessons as well as printable handouts for extra practice to help reinforce the skills learned.  Parents and students are given their own login and access to their individual portals; the student portal gives students easy access to both the Reading and Math lessons as well as spelling practice for words that the parent wishes them to work with while the parent portal allows the parent access to reports showing what their child has completed, how they have done on the lessons they have completed and how much time they have spent on the program.

Before starting the program, students are advised to take an online assessment to place the student in the proper reading and  math levels.  The assessment takes roughly 20-30 minutes to complete.

Here's an example of the results of Garrett and Ashleigh's Reading Assessment.

And here is the results of their Math Assessment

How We Used It

This is a harder review for me to write. Because, like most reviews, I really do like the program itself.

However, with that said, this particular program just didn't work for us.

Sample of the Reading Portion for Garrett

Unfortunately, it just wasn't right for Garrett and Ashleigh.  For us, it just didn't seem like any of the lessons built upon each other but instead were given at random. For example, while Garrett, who scored lower in mathematics on the assessment than Ashleigh, he was given multiplication and division skills and making change from purchases to work on, Ashleigh was given How to Read a Calendar and Temperatures or figuring out which item was longer or thinner, things that she learned back in 1st grade. I'm sure this is because on the assessment, Ashleigh scored at a "Low 3rd Grade" level on Measurements, but because of this, Garrett, who was over his head, at times got frustrated while Ashleigh was extremely bored.  (Her problem with measurement is remembering how many quarts in a gallon, how many ounces in a cup, not with remembering the months or temperatures).

Garrett using K5 Learning 

Another issue we had with the program was that the kids have to finish an entire series of lessons before their progress shows up on the reports.  Ashleigh would typically do three to four sections a day, three days a week and it wouldn't show any progress for her.  There was confusion as to what actually constitutes the end of the lesson - whether it would be when the happy face shows up or when the traffic signal came up.  It took me a bit to figure it out, especially when I would watch the kids work on the computer for 15-30 minutes and nothing to show for it on the report.

Ashleigh using K5 Learning - She told me afterwards she purposely missed November lol

Sample Worksheet from K5 Learning

To K5's defense, they do allow for parents to contact them to adjust the level at which their child starts the program at if parents feel that the level assigned based on the assessment isn't working. We just opted not to do this as I honestly didn't feel it would make much difference, especially with Garrett.  Neither kids seemed to get excited about working with this program.  That's not to say it's not a good program, but it wasn't a good fit for my two and since there's really no way for a parent to tweak it to be a better fit, it just isn't something I feel my kids would get much from.  My kids have found very few online programs they do like, so this is more about them then it is about a fault of the program.  I do think it's a good program overall and would be a great fit for many other families, especially those who have students who do better with animated lessons and online instructions.

Just because K5 Learning didn't work for us, doesn't mean that it won't work for you, especially if you have students who enjoy online learning.  Be sure to read the reviews from the other Crew Members and see how K5 worked for them, especially before allowing my review to sway you away from what might be a valuable tool for your student's learning.

To learn more about K5 Learning and their Online Program, visit their website or one of their following Social Media sites:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/k5learning    Tag:   @k5learning   
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/K5Learning    Tag: @K5Learning   
• Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/k5learning/            Tag:   @k5learning   
• Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+K5learning

Prima Latina from Memoria Press (A Homeschool Crew Review)

One of the biggest struggles we've had in homeschooling is trying to decide on a foreign language for the kids.  Studies show that the younger a student starts to learn their language of choice, the easier it is for them to learn it. Overall, I believe this to be true because even though I took three years of foreign language (one year of French in Middle School and 2 years of Spanish in High School), my skills are minimal at best.  Because of this, I knew I wanted to start a foreign language as early as possible but the question was, which one.  We tried Spanish but while the kids had fun with it for a brief period of time, it wasn't something either of them really cared about.  We also tried French and Chinese for Ashleigh but again, after a short period of time, she quickly lost interest in both.  We were both getting frustrated

Last year we briefly tried a Latin course and Ashleigh seemed to take a shine to it. However, it wasn't what I would consider a full curriculum for learning a foreign language.  So when we had the opportunity to review the Prima Latina Complete Set  from Memoria Press, I was interested.

About Prima Latina

Prima Latina is an all in one Latin Language curriculum for Grades 1-4th and is Memoria Press's introductory Christian Latin curriculum. The complete set includes a 132 page Student book, 151 page Teacher's Manual, a 3 disk DVD set containing over 9 hours of language instructions, a 294 card Latina Christiana I Flashcard set and a audio CD which includes pronunciation of vocabulary words from each lesson.  Made up of 25 individual lessons taught by Leigh Lowe, Prima Latina is designed for younger students who are not yet ready for Latina Christiana.

Each week, the students are taught a new Practical Latin phrase (such as hello, goodbye, ect), a grammar lesson such as about Verbs, Numbers, Pronouns and Adjectives, followed by a set of 5 vocabulary words.  Finally, through the course of the 25 lessons, students learn four prayers in both Latin and English.  By the completion of the course, the student will have learned how to spell and translate 125 Latin words, 25 practical Latin expressions, the numbers 1-10, the names of popular constellations in the sky, and the four prayers. They will also learn many English derivatives from the Latin words they have learned as well as some basic Grammar skills such as learning to identify parts of speech, recognizing verb conjugations, and 1st declension noun endings and conjugation verb endings.

How We Used It and What We Thought

 I'm going to start out by being completely honest.  There was a part of me that was extremely hesitant about this review. We had tried a few other Memoria Press curriculum (mostly their literature offerings) and neither of my kids cared for the format. However, with the fact that Ashleigh had already shown interest in learning Latin, I decided to take a chance and I am VERY glad that I did.  Ashleigh LOVES it!

Lessons are designed to be completed within the span of one week.  The way we used it was to watch the video lesson, taught by Leigh Lowe as well as review previous lessons on Monday.  Tuesdays and Wednesdays we would work through the pages in the workbook as well as review the current Practical Latin phrase, vocabulary words and the section of the Latin Prayer for the week. For Thursday and Friday, I would print out worksheets that I made to reinforce what Ashleigh had worked on for the week as well as to help reinforce proper spelling of each word.  We found Leigh Lowe's video instruction to be very upbeat and Ashleigh had no problem sitting through the 15-20 minute lessons.  Her pronunciation of the words are easy to follow and she speaks slowly and clearly. Combined with the good audio quality of both the DVD lessons and the CD's, each component has really helped Ashleigh learn each weeks lessons quickly. 

Sample lesson from Prima Latina taught by Leigh Lowe

The student workbook is printed in green and black ink, making it easy to read. All the pertinent information given during the DVD lesson is also included in the workbook, making it simple to review as she works her way though the activities in the book.

Activities are fairly simple, including things such as looking at a list of English derivatives and circling the letter combinations that are similar to that of the Latin word they are based off of,  answering review questions that reinforce what was previously learned, translating Latin words to English, and writing out vocabulary words and their meaning.

 Each lesson also ends with a "Fun Practice" activity which gives the student something fun to look forward to.

Ashleigh, being 3rd Grade, about to start 4th grade, found the workbook easy to follow and to read on her own. The instructions as to what is expected for each activity is explained clearly for her reading level, which means that Ashleigh needs very little help from me while completing the workbook sections of her lessons, freeing me up to help her brother with lessons he might need help with.

The teacher's manual is basically a copy of the Student workbook but with the answers filled in.  I have enjoyed having the teacher's manual on hand while watching the DVD lessons with Ashleigh as it gives me a place to make notes of proper pronunciation of the vocabulary (being I have never taken Latin outside of for Medical Terminology in college) so that when I work with her, I'm not mispronouncing the words myself. This was an issue that we had with our prior Latin lessons, as I honestly cannot tell you how many of the vocabulary words I was teaching her properly as I was just guessing at the pronunciation.

Being able to write the word as I hear Leigh Lowe pronounce it into my Teacher's Manual allows for me to refer back to it quickly without needing to repeat the lesson or go get the CD (which we tend to keep in our car so that we can review while on trips to town).

Ashleigh (and her rats) recite The Sanctus, the first prayer learned in Prima Latina

Without a doubt, Ashleigh's favorite part has been learning the Latin prayers.  Currently she is working on The Sanctus. Other prayers she will learn will include The Doxology, The Table Blessing, and finally the Lord's Prayer.  The prayers are learned in small chunks, one or two lines at a time as to now be overwhelming.  There's not a family member (including my ex husband when he came to visit last week) who has not had the "pleasure" of having Ashleigh recite her Latin prayer for them.


Prima Latina has been a wonderful experience for Ashleigh and I think it's a safe guess to say that she has found her foreign language of choice.  Luckily for us, Memoria Press offers several levels of their Latin curriculum, starting with Prima Latina for younger grades and expanding all the way to high school offerings such as 4th Form Latin and beyond.  This means that with Ashleigh starting as early as she has, she can easily continue to learn throughout the rest of her learning to a mastery level, possibly even to the point of taking an AP exam for college credit.  To see their full lineup of Latin Curriculum, be sure to visit this website at https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/

Now if I could only find a foreign language Garrett likes!! 

You can find more information about Memoria Press and their extensive Latin Curriculum, including Prima Latina by visiting their website. You can also visit them on any of the following social media platforms:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/    Tag:  @memoriapress   
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress    Tag:  @MemoriaPress   
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/            Tag:  @memoriapress   
• Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/          Tag:  @memoriapress   
• Google+:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/104379865092561103366   
• YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress/    

Memoria Press was extremely generous with the Crew, offerings not only Prima Latina but also Latina Christiana as well as First through Fourth Form Latin. Those not interested in learning Latin were also offered two of Memoria Press's Science offerings, The Book of Trees and Nature's Beautiful Order.  Be sure to click the banner below to read all the reviews and see if Memoria Press is right for you. 

She's Graduated!!!

Wednesday night, my oldest child graduated high school.  A huge milestone for her and a very emotional one for both of us. I'm one of those who cries at the drop of a hat - I cry watching Cars for goodness sakes, so such an important event in her life left Mom completely frazzled emotionally. Thanks to the person who invented waterproof mascara!!

I now have 9 years to start preparing myself for the next one.. It may take me that long to recover from this one.. 

It's been such an amazing ride to see this young girl progress from a six pound newborn to the young woman she is today.  It took a lot of resilience and determination to make it to the stage last night - her parent's divorcing, multiple moves, leaving friends behind and making new ones, and switching schools in the middle of the school year.

We've been lucky that for the last 6.5 years, we've been at the same military base so that she had the opportunity to be with the same kids from the end of 6th grade until now.  I may hate this base but I am thankful for that for her - it would suck to switch schools during her Senior year and walk with kids she barely knows. My husband had that happen and it's one thing he really regrets.

Senior Sunset - That's Alyssa Front and Center holding the Telescope

The negative side of being on this base is that the closest family she has off base is more than 1500

miles away, some even further.  Many whom cannot physically handle the trip to California, much less afford the transportation costs.  This means that her big celebration would involve less people then it would if we still lived where our family was at.  Alas, the sacrificed a military child makes when their family serves.

However, her father and his family did make the drive from Texas to California to share in her big day and we were happy to have them here.  My ex and I may not have been able to make our marriage work but we both always have Alyssa's best interest in heart. I know it meant a lot to Alyssa to have both her Mom and Dad, along with her Step Parents there to watch her walk, knowing we were all there just for her. 

Alyssa with her Mom and Dad before the Ceremony

Her Graduation also held a lesson in how unexpected the future can be.  On Memorial Day, only a few days before graduation, one of her classmates was hit by a drunk driver.  Luckily, the student survived but he was hospitalized and was unable to physically walk with his class.  I can only imagine what an eye opener that was for the students to know that if that could happen to a very popular football player, it could happen to anyone.

Technology did allow for him to "walk" with his class, however. Technology allowed for another student to "face time" with him on an Ipad for his walk while he sat in a hospital bed.  (The Principal had already hand delivered his diploma earlier that day).

The Commencement Speaker for the night was David D. McBride, the Director of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center who delivered a fine message about never allowing yourself to be held down.  He spoke about how when he graduated, he was not in the top of his class but instead was near the bottom. He did not receive academic awards, was not a member of the Honor Society or anything to those standards. However, he now holds a position where he only answers to two people, the head of NASA and the President of the United States.   A wonderful message for these students to take away with them as they pursue their own paths.

David D. McBride

I'm sure that many of you have already had graduates. Some of you may have graduated your kids from your homeschool, other's have had them graduate from public schools.  Alyssa has never been homeschooled because her father would have never allowed it. However, regardless of which educational situation a student comes from, I'm sure the feeling is the same. My heart (and my tears) busted forth with pride hearing her name called and seeing her walk across the stage to receive her diploma.

I remember my own graduation so vividly, even 20 years later. I hope these kids also remember theirs years down the road.

The ceremony didn't take near as long as other's I have attended, including my own.  With only 76 students making their walk, it was a very short program. At the conclusion of the ceremony, I went to retrieve me fresh graduate and had the opportunity of being the first of our family to give her a huge hug.  (I don't care if that's being selfish lol).. What I found was a very emotional young lady who was feeling the impact of the realization that high school was over and she wouldn't see many of these students again. She'll hate me for posting this picture, and while it's not the best photograph, I think it captures the moment.

We managed to find a spot outside to take some family photos with our graduate.  Each of us in attendance had some part in making Alyssa into the young woman she is, so it was important to me to have photos of each and every one of us with her.  We took photos of her with my family and her father's family, along with photos of just her with Mom and Dad. We also took photos of her with her two dads, her two moms and with just her step parents, although I do hesitate calling either of them that.  They have impacted her life just as much as myself or Jeremy (her father) have and it feels almost wrong to label them as anything less than her parent as well.

Alyssa with her Father's family

Alyssa with her Mother's Family

With the Step Parents

Alyssa and her two Dads

Alyssa with her two Moms

With her brothers and sisters

Alyssa had the opportunity to pick anywhere she wanted for her celebratory dinner. She decided to give her Dad a "walk on the wild side" and picked eating at our favorite Indian restaurant, Mauli's.  Her father is VERY picky about what he eats - he's basically steak, burgers and potatoes, so Indian cuisine is a bit out of his comfort level. However, the day was all about Alyssa so he was willing to go where she wanted.  It was also a great choice because it wasn't far from the fairground and being that it wasn't a chain restaurant, it meant no waiting for a table.  Everyone had an enjoyable meal and her Dad even admitted that his food was really good.

Many split families can't find a way to come together, even for important dates for their child's life, whether it be graduation, a wedding, a birth of a grandchild, ect.  I am so glad that my ex and I can put aside hurt feelings and the past to provide a unified front for my daughter on such an important day.  We have spent the last week together as one big family, our kids playing together, sharing meals and sitting around my house talking and enjoying each other's company.  I know my daughter will never have to worry about the stress or the "what if" when we all come together, because she knows she's important enough to all of us to be there for her.

There's still some discussion as to what Alyssa would like to do post graduation.  For now, she's possibly going to take a "gap year", take a couple of courses she wasn't able to take in high school (Spanish 2 and Algebra 2) and then possible find a 4 year University that offers ROTC.  There's also been discussion about her possibly joining the United States Air Force.  I do know that I am not in a hurry for her to "fly the nest" just yet and whatever she does decide, she will continue to have a home here with us.

Congrats to all those graduating in 2017, whether it be Kindergarten, Middle School, High School or College.  And I hope each and every one of you have family that love you just as much as we love our daughter.