Charlotte's the Artist

Charlotte really is such a cute little artist. I love seeing her art work come home each day from Challenger.

Charlotte's penmanship has improved so much this year! Most other kids her age are still writing their "A" with a capital letter versus the appropriate lower case "a". I still want her to improve with her capital "C" and lower case "e" but I know given my experience volunteering in Kindergarten class with Ashlynne, this along will be a HUGE step from most kids entering kindergarten.

I love that they're having her label her own pictures now too! Shows her improvement in art and letters.

Love this last one--good penmanship and her shark is REALLY good!

Boston's Haircut

With Spring school and activity craziness, I didn't get Boston's hair cut as quickly as I usually do. It was in much need of some attention!

Wiscombe Vacation

Charlotte also got some birth family time in April while I enjoyed some fun girl time. I love you Wiscombes. Thanks for spoiling her and sharing these pictures with me! LOVE YOU!

Caine Vacation

While Jeremy enjoyed guy time with Boston and I enjoyed sister time in Washington, Ashlynne went to spend some one-on-one time with her birth family. She had a WONDERFUL time. I sure love our birth families.

They swam at hot springs. Played together and sent me pictures of how much Ashlynne and Aubrey are twinners! :) LOVE these pictures.

Girls Getaway

I was able to get away with my sisters for Lora's Surprise Birthday! It was SO FUN! We went on walks, watched General Conference, Shopped, Ate good fun, and laughed, laughed, laughed. We are SO FUNNY!

Boston's Backpacking

Since the beginning of the year, we've introduced Boston to the treadmill. It was Jeremy's very inspired idea. Jeremy wanted Boston to increase his stamina and strength. Boston is not competitive but has always enjoyed being the trail blazer. So we've gradually increased the incline of the treadmill. He's now up to 8 incline at 2.8-3.0 speed.

Jeremy took Boston hiking during my sister's weekend and Boston did AMAZING! Every time Jeremy said it was time to turn around, Boston would start hiking uphill again. We were so happy to find something that Boston is good at, good for him, and that he enjoys doing.

Ashlynne's Art

Every week Ashlynne goes to an art class. The art teacher is SO good. I love that Renaissance Academy has all the arts available to my kids: arts (learning about best artists in history as well as various uses in art--acrylics, oils, water-based paint, chalk, etc.) and music specifically. It's sad they've removed these from the traditional public schools. I remember going to music class in elementary school and LOVED it. I remember having art--it was in my classroom but a VERY regular part of my learning. In traditional public elementary classes, they may have an "art Friday" or "art contest" but weekly choir practice and art classes are no longer in the schools. It's so sad to me. Anyway, I love that RA still has them and values these subjects. Anyway, rant over. Here's Ashlynne's latest art about SPRING. It's beautiful. She did a great job.

This week Ashlynne learned about Rosa Bonheur. Ashlynne taught me a lot about her. I never took an Art History class so I learned so much from my 7-year-old. Here's what Ashlynne taught me about Rosa Bonheur:
She's a famous french artist that painted animals almost 200 years ago. She LIVED with some of the animals she painted. A a child, she lived on a farm and painted the animals in the barn and around the farm every night. When Rosa was older she wanted to wear pants while she painted, so she asked for permission and was granted permission to wear pants while she painted. Her brother also became an artist. 

So great to hear my kids talk about the wonderful things they learn at school. Here are a few of Rosa Bonheur's famous paintings:

From studying Rosa Bonheur, Ashlynne is painting a bunny. I can't wait to see it. She said she still needs to paint it and finish it at school.

Charlotte's Art

I posted one of Charlotte's art projects on FB and Instragram, but there are so many great pictures that Charlotte creates I wanted to document more on here. It's so great to see her enjoying preschool and learning about animals, dinosaurs, and other things from history, science, and geography.

Charlotte learned all about the Arctic. She learned how animals serve in the cold temperature and dangerous terrain.

She drew a Polar Bear too, but I'm not sure where that one went. 

In History, she learned about the first colonies and New England and the first American Flag. 

Next in Animal Science, she learned about amphibians: their definition and qualities.

Charlotte also came home and told me lots of cool things about the Sun, Earth, and Moon and their relationship to one another. I love how many diverse things she learns as well as the important Math and Language Arts.

"Lightning"--I wish this was a better picture. She had loaded her bag LESS carefully this day so the art was all crumpled but I loved her lightning bolt. 

Also this winter, they did several weeks learning about Dinosaurs.

Charlotte came home with this absolutely ADORABLE Dinosaur Book

This cute little caterpillar came from the Gym, but I loved how she made it the head green and bright colors. It was just too cute not to share.

With Spring Beginning n March 20, they've transitioned to learning about Spring and the activities and climate of that season.

Challenger School is NOT cheap, but I have loved seeing the learning and skills Charlotte's developed from the education she's been given. It brings me peace of mind.