Guidance Counselor- Supporting Passion

A few years ago the head nursery worker at church asked if Sabrina would like to be my helper when I have nursery. She said yes. At the time I did not know Sabrina was even interested in younger kids. Sabrina absolutely loves playing with younger kids especially toddlers! 

Sabrina is still the youngest volunteer at church. She started off only being in nursery with me. Eventually she started helping another lady and taking the kids back during song service, if the nursery worker was one of the musicians. Now she will be helping out different ladies twice a month for the Sunday morning service, which is the busiest service. 

Sabrina also helps with the child care at the weekly English Second Language Class. The kids, who come regularly, are 2, 3, and 8. 

Sabrina qualifies for the Governor's Volunteer Award based on her work at church, which is mostly working with younger children. Later this year we can submit her for the President's Volunteer Service Award. 

Sabrina just started working as a mother's helper for a friend of ours. A mother's helper is normally a child too young to be a full fledged babysitter, but old enough to help out with the mother at home.  The mother helps train them. Sabrina will spend three hours a week helping our friend and getting paid for it.

Our friend has agreed to write Sabrina a letter of reference. And she also has several ladies at church, including the head of the nursery who she can ask.  

Before starting as a mother's helper, Sabrina read a bunch of books on babysitting from the library. She will be taking the Red Cross online Babysitter Course when she is old enough. Several local hospitals offer Safe Sitter courses. She will also take CPR and First Aid, again, when she is old enough. I even found a high school course on human development with a focus on young children, (I was looking for something for Alex when I came across it.) 

Sabrina's plans include being a Babysitter and being a Sunday School Teacher for the preschool class. When she is too old for Sunday School I will have her start helping me when I teach that class, which will allow her to gain the skills and experience to eventually teach the class herself. 

She has gained a lot of experience and skills because we noticed her passion and provided opportunities for her to pursue it. 

Marie-Anne

Roller Skating

Once again we got the Summer Pass at the Crystal Palace Skating Rink. The pass lets us go 5 times for $20 each. Alex and I still pay $2 each time for skates. We plan on getting the pass twice this Summer. All three of us love roller skating! 

Marie-Anne

Mother's Helper

Sabrina has landed her first job! She is a mother's helper once a week for a friend of our family. A mother's helper is a babysitter in training; she watches the child with the mother in the house. Sabrina has found a way to get paid to do something she loves to do!

Our friend, Shelly, will be training her own babysitter because Sabrina wants to become a full fledged babysitter when she is older. She is getting experience by being a mother's helper and with her volunteer work at the church. Shelly will be a reference for Sabrina and Sabrina plans to ask several ladies at church, with whom she has worked. Sabrina has read lots of books on babysitting from the library. She plans to take the Red Cross online Babysitter Course when she is old enough. 

Marie-Anne  

Ronald McDonald House- Cookie Crew

Sabrina and I made up today's Cookie Crew. Alex's allergies were acting up so we left him at home this time. I really enjoyed spending time with just Sabrina and we had some in depth conversation.

We made Snickerdoodles. The Snickerdoodles are a favorite of the folks at the Ronald McDonald House.

We were asked if we would mind washing blueberries and packing them for the lunches. It gave me a chance to ask if they have more responsibilities for us. We have made Caring Cards and baked Cookies for over a year. It is time to add some new skills to learn. 

Marie-Anne

Amargosa Trail Hike

It's almost the end of May, yet the weather was perfect for a hike. This wasn't just a paved trail this was a hike up the side of a mountain path.

I may  or may not have grumbled that hikes are supposed to be fun on the way up.

This is why you stay on the trail.

Marie-Anne

Skating Class

Alex really enjoys his skating class. We will be getting the Summer Pass soon, so we can go to more open skate times.

Marie-Anne

Life Skills- Replacing a Window

Marie-Anne

Park

We were supposed to meet our homeschool group at a new to us park, but we got lost and ended up at another park. It was pretty far out there and in a fancy area. I wasn't very impressed with the park itself, though the landscaping and area was nice. I later found out the park we were supposed to be at wasn't far from where we were. 

Marie-Anne 

Life Skills- Watering the Garden

Marie-Anne

Family walk/run

We have been walking or running around the neighborhood about three times a week. We are increasing our distance. Sabrina has started to run with her Papa. The weather has been super nice for the end of May- I'm loving it! 

Marie-Anne

English Second Language Class

Alex baked Snickerdoodles and Sabrina baked Chinese Almond Cookies. There were no students; one is out of town and the other family had to work. Sabrina played with Faith, who is the daughter of another volunteer. 

Marie-Anne

Guidance Counselor-Volunteer Awards

As a homeschooling mom, I am my children's guidance counselor. I have spent hours upon hours researching how to prepare my high schooler for college. One area that has been of concern to me is awards. Let's face it; public schools offer tons of awards that students could take advantage of, but an award I print off is meaningless outside of our household. Therefore I have had to look for resources elsewhere.

Congressional Award- http://www.congressionalaward.org/program/ is open to ALL students ages 13.5 to 24th birthday. Yet last year less than 500 received the gold medal. Students set goals in four areas; Volunteering, Physical Fitness, Personal Development, and Exploration/Expedition (planning trips).

Alex has been working on the Congressional Award Program for almost a year. Our goal is for him to meet the requirements for the Gold Medal by the end of next Summer. The volunteer work Alex did for the Congressional Award qualified him for several other awards that I didn't even know of when we started.

Our city has a Mayor's Honor Roll Award that includes volunteer work. I submitted both kids, but never heard anything back. I will try again next year and the next... it only takes a few minutes.

The Governor's Volunteer Award (to do a search type the Governor's Volunteer Award and your state) now has a youth level for those under 18. Youth can earn this award every year for doing 100 hours of volunteer work in a year. They do need to be submitted by a nonprofit. I'm asking our pastor to submit both Alex and Sabrina for the work they have done with the adult English Second Language Class and Sabrina's help in the nursery.

The President's Volunteer Service Award-
https://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/the-award has different requirements based on age. For Sabrina it is 75 hours of volunteer work for Gold Level. For Alex it is 100 hours of volunteer work for Gold Level. (Alex received this award for 2018.)  This is an award that can be earned every year. You have to be submitted by a certifying organization such as the  Prudential Spirit of Community Award, (5th-12th grades).

The Prudential Spirit of Community Award-  https://spirit.prudential.com/  is competitive with a deadline in November. It is based solely on volunteer work from students in grades 5th-12th. I honestly don't think either of my kids has a chance at the National Level, at least not at this point. However, regional or state level is a possibility. Besides they are a certifying organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award so, if they qualify, it is worth it to submit them just for that.

Another option is to start your own club with an award program. I started a Service Club with our homeschool group to get other kids involved in volunteer work, give the kids leadership roles as they plan their own service project ideas, and to give them awards.

I stated that I was guidance counselor to my high schooler, but my 5th grader is the one reaping the most benefits. As I was searching for volunteer opportunities for Alex I purposely sought ones that Sabrina could do too, because I didn't want the hassle of getting a babysitter.

She qualifies for every one of the awards mentioned above, except the Congressional Award because she is too young. Can you imagine how impressive her resume will be for earning the Governor's and President's Volunteer Awards every year from 5th-12th grade? Not to mention the 800 hours of volunteer work that will represent? When you break it down that's only two hours a week.

Marie-Anne

Summer Business Opportunity

This Summer, Alex has the opportunity to paint 28mm miniatures and sell them on E-Bay. Right now he is working on his first batch of miniatures: the Louisiana Tigers Regiment from the American Civil War.

Frank

Nursery

Sabrina helped Mrs. Audra tonight in the nursery. They had three toddlers and a baby.

Marie-Anne

Amador Park

A friend invited us and several other families to meet them at a park. We had a great time and the kids played real well together.

Marie-Anne

Earning College Credit while in High School

Alex taking a practice test.

Alex is just finishing up his freshman year of high school, yet he already has college credit. He took  the Astronomy DSST test at a local college yesterday. He needed a score of 400 to pass and he got 471 out of 500. Alex earned 3 college credits!

He is scheduled to take the Biology CLEP test next week. And if he does well on the practice test we will schedule him for the College Algebra test soon. 

Marie-Anne 

Homeschool Group- Teen Bowling

Alex really does enjoy the teen events with our homeschool group. They went bowling for about two hours on Saturday.

When I came to pick him up; Alex and his friends were all gathered around someone's phone playing Astro-Party. Typical teens. The Dads in charge of the event had to pry them away from the phone when it was their turn to bowl. 

Marie-Anne 

Congressional Award Update

Alex has submitted his paperwork for the Bronze Medal! He has to do a few revisions. He forgot to sign a paper. He also needs to write more detailed reports on his expeditions, (the trips he planned).

They did not accept his swimming goal because you can only submit two goals for Physical Fitness at a time. We mistakenly thought that since swimming would be applied to a certificate level and he was only working on two goals at the same time that it would be fine. Thankfully by adding his work in 5K's and Roller Skating for March and April he has more than enough hours. 

He will submit his revisions next week, after he gets the skating instructor's signature. Hopefully he won't need any more.

If all goes well he will be submitting his paperwork for the Silver Medal at the beginning of September. It will take him at least until June 2020, (probably a little longer) to complete the Gold Medal Level. 

Marie-Anne

Ronald McDonald House - Caring Cards

Making Caring Cards is such an easy way to do volunteer work and we hone our art skills at the same time. Caring Cards are drawings on blank index cards that are included with the free lunch the Ronald McDonald House provides to the families while they are at the hospital. They cheer up the families and some kids even tape them up on the wall of their hospital room. We make the cards at home and turn them in when we go to the Ronald McDonald House for Cookie Crew. We have each made dozens in the last year. 

Sabrina has made a ton of Caring Cards this month. She has been drawing while listening to audio dramas. 

Some of Alex's Caring Cards from this month. He also makes origami finger puppets. His drawing skills have improved since we started making Caring Cards.

I wanted to know who the Sonic characters were, (since Alex kept talking about them) so I started drawing them from his comics. 

Alex and Sabrina also make Caring Cards for when we visit a friend in a nursing home. They have gotten to know several other residents and make cards for them as well. 

Marie-Anne

Wayne's Visit- Board Games

Board games were pulled out several times throughout Wayne's visit. We had a very good visit and we are glad he came.

Marie-Anne

Wayne's Visit- Pittman Wash

We enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day for being outdoors by going on a hike. We walked for a little over an hour.

Sabrina spent a few minutes on the swings near the parking lot.

Marie-Anne