HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Being we are a few weeks into 2015 (and the sad fact I have not updated this blog since last September) I figured I better give the blog some attention.  Mallory has been VERY busy this school year.  It seems like we're always on the go with one thing or another so the blog has been left in the dust.  I am aiming to change that starting right now.  Happy 2015 from The Ludgate's! 

Made it til midnight! 

Mallory has been doing quite well in first grade.  She is in an advanced reading group and challenge math.  Being in the advanced reading group means everyday she goes with a few of her classmates to meet with a certified teacher who assists her and the others with advance reading skills.  There are only a handful of students in this group so it's quite the accomplishment to be a part of it, especially being on the young end of first grade with a summer birthday.  We have never had any trouble getting Mallory interested in reading.  She has always loved books and her reading skills are getting better and better by the day.  She is even reading chapter books!  I am so glad it's easy for her.  

Being a part of challenge math means she gets two homework sheets each night instead of one.  The second homework sheet has five problems to solve that are just an extension of the regular homework sheet that everyone gets.  Right now they are learning about money and counting coins.  To assist with learning about how money is used, each night they bring home a chore sheet.  We get to decide what her chore will be and how much she gets paid for doing the chore.  Her wage is decided by how positive she responds to the chore and how well she completes it.  She gets paid in pennies the next day in school and at the end of the week they get to go to the "store" and buy a prize.  The store was created by donations and consists of things like pencils, fruit snacks and stickers.  

Christopher and Mallory have been working on the beginning stages of her science fair project.  The science fair is not required for first graders but they can enter if they want to and Mallory wanted to.  They are working on a project that shows the different sizes of the planets and how far apart they are. I am leaving that project up to Christopher as he is so much better at that kind of stuff then I am.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!  The science fair is held at the end of February.

Mallory just completed her second year with the Farmington Competition Cheerleading Team.  This was her last year as a Pee Wee.  They had another successful competition season with more trophies and medals to add to the collection.  She is quite good at cheerleading and really enjoys the competitions so we'll stick with it in the future I am sure.  

Mallory is also dancing again this year with Synergy Dance Company out of Farmington.  She is enrolled in one of their "STARS" classes so this means she will be learning some jazz techniques along with ballet and tap.  We're not allowed to watch as it can be distracting to the students so I don't really know what they're up to in the studio.  I do know that Mallory continues to be excited about dance and just got to try on her tap costume last night night so all is well on the dance front.  Being in dance and cheerleading at the same time sure helps build skills in both fields that can crossover and be used in each.  I am just as excited about the recital coming up this May as anyone else!!!!! 

Early last fall Mallory had approached me and asked about trying and playing basketball.  I told her I would look into it.  I found that Farmington Community Education had a youth basketball program that started in December and went thru March.  It was a very reasonably priced so we signed her up.  Unfortunately her cheerleading overlapped a little and she missed a few weeks of basketball here and there but now that cheerleading is over, she can focus on basketball.  They practice once a week for one hour on Saturday mornings.  For the first half hour they practice fundamentals and skills and for the second half hour they have a scrimmage.  Mallory is having an absolute BLAST playing basketball.  While she is petite and has not scored a basket yet, she is pretty good at dribbling the ball and bringing the ball up the court.  She has a HUGE smile on her face the whole time!  We just love watching her play basketball.  

I think that's a good update for now.  Thank you for being loyal readers!!!!!