Last Day of First Grade!

I declared today to be Nadia's last day of first grade. I didn't ever pinpoint the end of Kindergarten last year. The only "school" she had today was a 90 minute gym class (kickball and dodgeball). Yesterday was the last day of the homeschool co-op.  Co-op only met five times over a seven week period, but I came to the conclusion that for now I'm not interested in being in a co-op next year. We had done two different co-op groups in the fall of 2013, and I came to the same conclusion that time, but I had decided this spring to give it another whirl. Prior to this experience I had been planning to join a different co-op (north of us) next year, but I've changed my mind. If we didn't have the homeschool gym class I might feel differently, but I think that ladies Bible study on Tuesday mornings (at various points in the year) plus homeschool gym class on Friday mornings is enough for us at this stage of life. When the kids are older I will probably feel differently about joining a homeschool co-op that meets once a week during the whole school year, especially as at some point I'll have to give up Bible study because the kids will be too old to be in a nursery for two hours while I'm in the Bible study. I am also thinking of joining some homeschool classes at the Children's Museum next year for the first time. Nadia loves the fact that she is now officially a second grader. In August I'll have a three year old, kindergartner, and second grader.

It amazes me how easily Oliver has learned how to use the iPad. I let him use it once a day (up to 30 minutes). On the days Nadia does school work, I let him have his turn while I'm doing school work with her as it usually translates to 30 minutes without interruptions. On other days I let him use the iPad when I'm trying to do something like cook dinner. I have the settings set up so that the kids can't buy any apps or make any in-app purchases, but yesterday Oliver did something I wasn't expecting the kids to do. He called Uncle Maurice via FaceTime. I was so surprised to hear my brother's voice coming through the iPad. At first I thought I was hearing things, but then Oliver told me he was talking to Uncle Maurice. The wonders of modern technology. My two year old can initiate a (free) video call with his uncle in Brazil. Gone are the days of international long distance phone call fees!