End of year celebrations

This past weekend marked the end of the homeschool co-op year, aka N.I.K.E.(Naturally Into Kids Education) and also the end of the ballet year for A. at her dance studio.  Saturday morning was dance rehearsal and Saturday evening was the co-op potluck and presentations, then Sunday was the formal recital, which to my delight (and surprise) was not merely a recitation of dance moves set to contemporary music while the kids paraded around and shook their 'thang. Thank GOODNESS A's dance studio is not like this or I would have had to poke my eyes out and run away screaming.  Each class performed a piece to a fantasy or storybook song.  A's class did The Fox and The Grapes book.  A was a grape, she looked beautiful.  The end of the recital was an excerpt from the ballet Giselle and the older ballet girls performed this and it was mesmerizing and so well done.  And these are young teenage girls!!  About 13-16 years old!  One of them, Sarah was the main soloist.  This young lady is breathtaking to watch.  She is very long and lean and has such a beautiful style to her ballet.  She is only 16 years old too! Sarah is one of A's favorite dancers.  A watches the Peter Pan video over and over and memorized Sarah's part as Tiger Lily and emulated her and copied the dance.  (My girl is really truly sweet!)  So we made sure to congratulate Sarah on her performance and her accomplishment of getting a full scholarship to go study this summer in another state.  She really was pleased that A came up to her and said hello and Sarah gave her a hug.  A was so thrilled. Good luck Sarah!  A will miss you this summer!

A is becoming quite the talented ballerina.  I watch her as she flutters across the stage and I am amazed at her poise, grace and form.  And it seems to come naturally to her and it is something she wants to do for herself, not because a friend is doing it or will be there or because Mom and Dad want her to try it.  I am so happy that she is doing this of her own volition, it shows me that when left to explore children and adults find what they really want and need. I really love watching her dance, my heart leaps when she leaps! She is in the middle, below.

{Taken outside afterward, with her two of her bestest friends}

As for the little brother he is loving life and enjoying himself at the pool. He is actually going to be taking ballet this summer, as he expressed interest in it and copies the jumping moves from A. when she does them.  Boys who take classes at the dance studio are free so its a great deal! He wants to perform on stage too  and I said well get your dancing shoes on and lets do it! He also firmly stated last week that I was to "teach him how to read right now" so that he can read just like A.  He is such a sweetheart, my little sidekick.

For the Co-op the kids presented several pieces of art from the art they did all year and also displayed their environmental science project as well. Several groups had a skit that they performed and we also enjoyed some recorder music from some of the children. A and A were in a skit where Mr. Av was one of the farmers planting seeds and Aybelle was the sun.  Then the flowers grew from the Earth.

{my kids science project----> "Our Food is Sooo Tired! How Far Does Your Food Travel?"}

{artwork by my kids, on black foamcore}

{Farmer boys planting the seeds}

{Here comes the Sun. . .}

{yeah the flowers grew!}

{Certificates of completion were awarded to each student}

It was nice to have this wrap up so that we can take a break on Thursdays and go to the pool!  We are still doing our History co-op with two other families on Tuesdays for the remainder of summer and into the Fall and plugging along here at home with reading, writing and math.  we just switched our Math curriculum to Singapore Math and I am finding this to be a better fit for us than Math U See. I actually understand how to teach this to the kids versus struggling to understand Math U See's method.