She Reads!

The challenge for many homeschool moms is learning how to teach each child in the way that they learn best. Madison begged me to teach her to read at 4 and was reading on her own at 5. She is an eager learner and picks things up quickly. As her teacher...she's easy to teach. Adrienne is completely different. She processes things much slower and is timid in her learning often because of fear she'll be wrong or make mistakes...she HATES making mistakes. I have taken a much more hands-off method with her. I want to build her confidence slowly by not pushing her and ultimately discouraging her in her learning. This year I did alot of reading out loud to her and only did formal teaching when she requested it. So we do math books and letter books and lots of playdoh & crafts. Recently we have been working on her lowercase letters by making them with playdoh & then sounding them out. I plan on doing a more formal language arts and math program in September. This morning, Adrienne was very motivated to do school (after much encouragement from daddy last night) so I grabbed Madison's Kindergarten readers, and with a little help, she sounded out the letters and was able to blend them pretty easily and was off reading! (Thank you God!) Alot of high-fives and a lollipop later, my little girl was encouraged and hopefully on her way to the world of reading. I pray the Lord would give me wisdom to teach all my kids (and alot of patience) for as long as he calls me to do this. My main goal for them is that they would LOVE reading and LOVE learning. Great Job Little A! We are soooo proud of you!

Artwork

This morning I thought I would share the kids artwork with you. This month at Compass, Madison learned all about art, various art media, and artists in history. She really loved it. Here are her pictures: The apple and a self portrait after looking into a mirror.

These are Adrienne's paintings:

And Matthew's sun that he made at Compass. Then the whole class sang, "Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me!" (too cute).

And here are Adrienne & Matthew's bunny & frog crafts that Gege & Papa sent them for Easter.

Made For Another World

John Piper writes in his book, The Dangerous Duty of Delight, "God has put eternity in man's mind and filled the human heart with longing. But we know not what we long for until we see the breathtaking God. This is the cause of universal restlessness. Hence the famous prayer of Saint Augustine: 'You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace till they rest in you.'"

"The world has an inconsolable longing. It tries to satisfy the longing with scenic vacations, accomplishments of creativity, stunning cinematic productions, sexual exploits, sports extravaganzas, hallucinogenic drugs, ascetic rigors, managerial excellence, etc. But the longing remains. What does this mean? C.S. Lewis answers:"

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

Matthew's New Ride

The weekend was absolutely beautiful. We did alot of work outside on the yard...pulled bulbs & re-planted them, laid topsoil, cleaned out the shed, and ripped up the dead grass in our backyard to seed. Bill brought home this Cadillac Escalade fully loaded (pretend leather seats & real working radio) for Matthew. Hip-Hop used it for a promotion and it was just sitting at the center so Bill thought he would put it to good use. Matthew LOVED it but was a little timid when learning to drive it. At one point he whispered to Bill, "I'm a little scared dad". He still needs to learn to steer a little better (like his daddy...haha!) and goes from side to side. The kids enjoyed being outside all weekend. Here's some pics...have a good week!

On A Mission...Again

Sorry I haven't posted this week...been fighting a sinus infection and feeling crummy. Speaking of feeling crummy, I've decided I really need to get healthy again. I spent 15 years of my younger life in the gym, training & working out. After having 3 kids and being pretty much sedentary (my arms get tired from folding laundry...yeah, it's bad), I really need to start exercising my body again. You would think I would be more motivated to exercise...with a degree in exercise physiology and being a former athlete...but no, I'm as lazy as they come. I don't enjoy exercise anymore...but hopefully that will change. I have what many women have after having kids...a separation in my abdominal muscles called rectus diastasis. I also think I have an underlying hernia near my belly button. This makes my core strength really weak. I often get muscle spasms & abdominal pain from it. I could probably use surgery, but before I do that I'm going to try to get my core stronger to see if that helps. So I created a little program for myself...and hopefully I can continue for longer than my usual one week. I'll let you know how it goes. In the mean time, enjoy this beautiful weekend!

Easter Pictures & Videos

Well it has been pretty busy for the Roth family. We traveled to Grand Island last Sunday for Papa's Funeral on Wednesday. It was good to be with my parents, brother & sister, and my aunt & uncle. It snowed & was freezing cold. We returned Wednesday evening and we were all exhausted from what seemed like the longest drive home ever. Thursday was COMPASS, Bill taught the HS boys Health & Fitness & I taught Adrienne's Kindergarten class. Then our kids all got sick with a cough & cold. Matthew saw the doctor Friday for wheezing, severe coughing & his lungs just sounded bad. They started him on an oral steroid and we all hibernated in the TV room to rest. Bill had a game on Friday and Saturday they were well enough to see the movie Monsters vs Aliens. On Easter Sunday I served at church and then we all traveled to Lancaster to have Easter dinner at Bill's parents. Here are some pictures of our time in NY and Easter and 2 videos especially for Gege & Papa from the kids Easter morning.

**Pause Playlist

Do You Know Him?

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Happy Easter from the 5 Happy Roths.