Snapshots Late 2012

 We just had end of term "conferences" with each of the kids and so it is fresh in my mind all of the things that I admire about each of them (and all of the things that we asked them to work on but I'm not going to post those on the world wide web!) Here goes:

Ethan turned 10 in August and is in Fourth Grade this year. He has a precise personality and a technical brain. It is a challenge for me to think of learning activities that will inspire him as he thinks very differently than me! (This is good.) He helps his mother be punctual and is very organized. Ethan is a visual learner and is very good at Spelling, Math and Piano. He loves to draw and is the family photographer on most hikes. He is a Webelo scout this year and also plays baseball- his favorite position is catcher. Lastly, the love of Ethan's life are his legos.....he would be content to play legos all day long. Ethan says he wants to be an architect when
he grows up!

 Abby Jane turned six in September and is in First Grade this year. She has a very nurturing personality and is so happy to have two baby cousins in the last six months! She is the only one of my children who was writing before she was reading.. the female need to communicate, I suppose. Abigail took horseback riding lessons this year and has also started piano lessons. Her favorite thing to do is draw and make crafts- she has a few bins in the basement for crafty things. Right now we are calling it Santa's Workshop. Abigail also loves to paint with her Mimi in her studio.
She is quite the bike rider and loves to listen to her Mama read her books. This year we have been reading all of The Little House on the Prairie books just the two of us. But she will listen to anything and has always sat on my lap when I would read anything to her brothers for homeschool. I appreciate this about her as it made the transition to more formal  learning very smooth for us both! She likes to do pbskids.org for her computer time and is always spitting out vocabulary that makes me pause. Nothing inappropriate, just a bit older than what I am expecting. When I ask her where she learned that word, she laughs and shouts, "pbskids.org!"

 Adam turned nine in November and is in Third Grade this year. Adam is our physical kid. He plays the piano like it is a percussion instrument and generally learns by using his hands. Adam is almost always jolly and few things bother him- this is one of my favorite things about him. Adam also loves to draw and paint. He especially loves to paint very detailed drawings of birds. He is also in Cubscouts and also plays baseball, preferring first base. Adam loves anything that involves people and is very tenderhearted towards all of his younger cousins. Did I mention he likes to eat? He especially loves his Mama's chili. Adam has said anything about what he wants to be some day. Ornithologist? Chef? We will see!

Caleb turned twelve in July and is in Sixth Grade this year. Caleb's brain is the most similar to mine in that he likes to read, generally believes that he can do the tasks before him and tends to see the big picture. Caleb is an auditory learner and has always loved listening to stories, talking about stories and telling stories. I have had a hard time keeping him in books that are appropriate! He relies heavily on his ear for piano and I am hoping that we can both take guitar lessons together this coming year. Caleb is in his second year of Boy Scouts and went to camp this past summer and loved it. He also plays baseball and his favorite position is pitcher, although he will settle for shortstop. Caleb is becoming the techno-wizard around here is often able to help solve problems with computers. I wouldn't be surprised if he does something with computers for a career although currently he is interested in aviation.