Extra Curricular Activities

I was reading through last weeks Weekly Wrap Up posts and realized that I was one of the few people who didn’t include the extra curricular activities in my list.   So as not to appear like my children are sheltered from contact with the world, I thought I’d do a second post.

Baseball/Softball -

Fall baseball for Olivia started last week and will run through mid-September.  Currently, we have 2-3 practices and/or games scheduled each week.  In the spring, Olivia will be moving to softball and Lindsey will be starting her first year of tee-ball.

Awana-

As usual, Awana will be a big part of our school year.  Olivia will be in her 3rd year of Sparks, and Lindsey will be starting her first year of Sparks.  The church where the girls attend hosts their Awana on Wednesday nights from 6pm – 8pm.   Awana is a wonderful children’s Bible program, typically hosted by Baptist churches in the community.  You do not have to be a member of the host church, or Baptist for that matter to attend.  Kids memorize Bible scriptures, compete in games and earn prizes.   To find a location near you, click here.

Ballet and Tap -

Olivia will be taking Junior Level 2 Ballet and Tap this year.  Her classes are for one hour, once a week.  She will also be auditioning for a part in the Nutcracker.   

Lindsey will be in moving up to Primary Ballet and Tap.  Her classes are for 45 minutes, once a week.  This will be Lindsey’s first year with Tap.   She’s a shoe gal, so the opportunity to get new tap shoes is a thrill for her.

An added bonus for me, is that this year I can schedule both classes on the same day!  The classes will be back to back, with a bit of overlap time.  So this frees up one entire evening for us during the week.

Piano -

Olivia will be starting piano lessons in late August or early September.  This will be our first venture into musical instruments.  A lovely couple from church has allowed us to borrow their keyboard until we see if this is something she really wants to do.   Once we see that she really is going to stick with it, we’ll begin the search for our own keyboard or piano.

Activity Day -

Our local support group has a monthly activity day class, lasting for 2 hours.    Lindsey will be in my Dr. Seuss class.  Olivia will be in the 7-8 year old girl class and I believe they are focusing on American Girls.

Book-It -

Free is our friend.  Free food is a better friend!  Throw in reading in order to get that free food and it’s a homeschool family’s dream come true!  Ok, that may be a bit of a stretch, but it’s still an awesome program.  Pizza Hut hosts the Book-It! program each year.  The program is open to public, private, parochial, and homeschooled children (K-6th)  You set a monthly goal for reading, and if the child meets that goal, they get a certificate for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut! 

4-H -

We’re looking at joining 4-H this year.   Since Olivia has such an interest in animals I thought this might be a good fit for her.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that the club I’ve been looking at is hosted by a homeschool family from Olivia’s baseball team!  So this will serve a dual function, learning about animals and building stronger relationships with some wonderful folks we’ve already bonded with!

The wonderful thing about this list, is that it’s all free other than the dance and piano lessons!  It sounds really busy, but there are only 2 days a week involved typically (baseball ends before any of the others start).  The activity day and 4-H both fall on the same day, once a month so that’s not bad either.

So see, we really do get out of the house and interact with other people….in case you’re a family member who still isn’t convinced about this homeschooling thing.