Butterfly project

Had lots of fun taking pictures with the butterfly science project. I can't say I have the same new-found enthusiasm for school projects as I did with Sofia, now doing them the second time around, but I have to remind myself, it may be a re-run for me but it's all the first time for Marcelo. The joy captured in these photos are a great reminder for me to keep chugging along. I have one more re-run to go.

Swim Class '13

Second year of summer swim classes with Swim Kids, this time at a residence in Lehi not far from our house.  You really love the classes and you're starting to learn the pillow rest technique, the dolphin kick, and diving.

Reading

A book Marcelo decided to attempt on his own.

Kindergarten reject

Since Marcelo misses the Kindergarten birthday deadline of age five by Sept. 1st, we are naturally starting Kindergarten at home(school).  He is pretty excited and hasn't mentioned anything about his previous disappointment over not getting to play on the Kindergarten playground at Sofia's former charter school, Quail Run.

He should be well prepared for Kinder, which we plan to start next week. He graduated from the UPSTART preschool program last month with beginning reading skills in phonics and decoding.  My only concern for his teachability factor is that he seems to like writing in reverse, from bottom to top, right to left, and often with the mirror images of letters.  Hopefully this goes away during the year and doesn't point to a more serious issue.

I'm excited for a full year of homeschooling without the distractions and energy-sapping issues of public school we had last year.  I'm a little nervous about how it will go with two students.  Little steps.  But, teaching Marcelo can't be any harder than teaching Sofia, right?  Right???

Farming

We planted a square foot vegetable garden late in the Spring and we are now starting to get some veggies. Marcelo spotted the first ripe tomato.

It looks quite large in Marcelo's little hand but it is actually a cherry tomato!

My mom used to do this to me when taking pictures of me so I thought it only fair to do it to my children too.