Roberts Family Times
April 2003
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Academics |
| Andrew's Escapades |
| Video and Book Reviews |
| Person of the Month |
| Katie's Trip to Switzerland |
KATIE FINISHES SPELLING AND STARTS NEW MATH PROGRAM; JESSICA'S MATH UPDATE, JOSIAH'S READING UPDATE
The news is out! On March 7, 2002, Katie Roberts completed the 12th grade level of the Spelling Power program, the program Katie (11) and Jessica (10) both use for spelling. Upon finishing the program, someone reportedly asked Katie if she was excited over finishing spelling forever. "I have not," replied Katie. "I haven't even started college spelling!"
On Tuesday, March 19, 2002, Katie finished 45 of 126 lessons at aaamath.com: Grade 8. Both Katie and Jessica use aaamath.com for their math practice. "The stuff was really hard," admits Katie. "Mom wouldn't let me go on unless I got 90% right on everything!" As a reward, Scott Roberts will take her out to Golden Corral for supper.
Jessica Roberts just started doing her math at aaamath.com. Before, she was working in a grade 3 multiplication book. She finished that book about March 15th. Jessica got ½ hour of computer time as a reward for finishing the book. She was excited about finishing the math book, which she had been working on for three months.
Josiah's reading is coming along, and he is reading books like Hop on Pop or Go Dogs, Go! on his own. He is working on a phonics program called Alpha-Phonics and is making good progress. Josiah can't wait to learn to read, because there are so many things that he can't do without reading. Josiah practices Alpha-Phonics and reads a few books every day. His mother, Patty Roberts, says she cannot wait for him to learn, either. Katie and Jessica both learned to read at age four and she is anxious for him to learn as well. That's the Roberts Education Update! Read each issue to find out all about Katie, Jessica, and Josiah's progress.
Katie Roberts
Table of Contents
Andrew Alan Roberts will be three years old in May. We will take this space to tell you about some of his escapades.
Scene: Jessica's room. Andrew is taking a nap. Suddenly he wakes up. Andrew suddenly poops his diaper, and in one smooth motion, takes off the diaper and inserts it in the TV. Andrew lays down.
Scene: The library. Andrew is sitting at the computer. Suddenly Katie appears and shouts "I found him!" Katie then looks at the computer and bursts out laughing. "I wanted Putt-Putt", says Andrew. Andrew has put in the slobbery Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo CD in the drive and is entertaining himself by watching the previews.
We hope you enjoyed Andrew's Escapades
Katie Roberts
Table of Contents
The Book of the Month is a book that our staff has read the previous month and decided to recommend for our readers to enjoy. This month we recommend: (drum roll, please) LEFT BEHIND by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. This book, with millions of copies sold, is one of the most popular Christian books of the decade. The following is a rundown of its contents.
IN ONE CATACLYSMIC MOMENT, millions around the globe disappear. In the midst of global chaos, captain Rayford Steele, his daughter Chloe, and magazine writer Buck Williams must search for the truth.
The Video of the Month is a video that we have watched and recommended for you to enjoy. This month we have watched and recommended: BibleMan: Defeating the Shadow of Doubt. The whole BibleMan series is good for kids 3 & up. In Defeating the Shadow of Doubt, BibleMan discovers that Kayla has fallen under the spell of the sinister Shadow of Doubt. But when BibleMan and his friend, Coats, come to her aid, the Shadow and his assistant Ludicrous target BibleMan as their next victim, calling upon an army of "instant" minions to turn "the Scripture shouter into a Scripture doubter". But as BibleMan and Kayla cling to Scripture, they learn a powerful lesson about why we must rely on the truths in God's Word-no matter how we feel. Check in next month for another exciting video!
Katie Roberts
Table of Contents
The Person of the Month is a person chosen each month as a person of good character
and values. Each month we will post some details about a different person.
This month's Person of the Month is Jessica Roberts. Jessica is the second child
of Scott and Patty Roberts. She has an older sister, Katie, 11. She also has
two younger brothers: Josiah, 7, and Andrew, 2. Jessica is 10 and enjoys ballet
and art. She is the owner of The Walnut Shade Publishing Company. Jessica is
working her way through 4th grade math and 6th grade spelling. Jessica's mother
homeschools her and all her siblings. Jessica is a leader and loves to be in
charge. She is also head of the Walnut Shade Recreation Complex, which features
a bowling alley, a library, and many other small businesses. Katie and Aimee
Lambeth are her best friends. Says Katie: "I can't think of anyone I would rather
have for my sister."
Katie Roberts
Table of Contents
The following text is Katie Roberts' Journal for the last 10 days of her 3 weeks in Switzerland. The terms and words with * 's following them are explained after her entries.
Feb. 3, 2002 9:03 We're getting ready to go to church. Mr. Rick will be in Kids Church with me. Miss Elizabeth will be teaching. I can't wait!*
Feb. 4, 2002 21:17 I sent an email to Jessica today. Sarah wanted some pics of Andrew.
Feb. 7, 2002 8:23 We went to the mall yesterday. Sarah and Arteom must have spent an hour and a half clothes shopping. I bought postcards, Tic-Tacs, and the latest edition of Miss Colleen's favorite magazine. It had a picture of President Bush on the cover. Me and Mr. Rick took pictures while they shopped. We ate at a restaurant in the mall (top floor!) and must've got the last seat in the place. Then we went to H&M (a clothes store) to shop for more clothes. We spent almost an hour there. Boring! Then we went to a souvenir shop. I got Dad a cap and a T-shirt, and Mr. Rick got a VERY Swiss shirt. I got Jess a green coin purse. We played Double 6 Mexican Train (a great game).* Then I had ski fitting. The Mantels' skis were WAY too long and their boots were too big. I got new ones, and poles. I spent the evening at the Mantel's house. Rahel, Denise and I played Ligretto.*
Feb. 8, 2002 17:34 Yesterday I started on my report.* I got 4 pages done. I am sure I will finish tomorrow. We went on a little fact-finding tour today. Our first stop was at the most beautiful monastery ever. I mean beautiful! I wanted to take pics, but no cameras were allowed inside. At least we got to go in. The rest of our outing: we went up a mountain in some sort of ski lift. Once we got up we ate lunch at a restaurant. We spent the rest of the day looking at chapels.*
Feb. 9, 2002 This morning we went to Flums!* There were 7 tunnels. It took about an hour. We ate lunch at the Tannenboden Restaurant. We will be staying at the Hotel Tannenboden. I'm done with the report.
Feb. 10, 2002 Miss Elizabeth taught me to ski today. I'm terrible at it. This afternoon I went to Ski School. I am an Orange. We work on going down the kiddie hill and riding the "magic carpet." It's like a escalator without stairs. Feb. 12, 2002 I am a Green! Here is a list of what I can do: kiddie hill, kid hill, balloon tunnel, snowplow, steering wheel, slalom A, slalom B, magic carpet, big lift, airplane and slalom with partners.*
Feb. 13, 2002 Today I learned the T-bar! We went up a real ski hill and skied down it. I love skiing. Mr. Hansueli made super. It was good. Feb. 14, 2002 Valentine's Day Today has been a good day. I LOVE YAHTZEE! It is a great game. I won twice! Tomorrow I'll be leaving. Sarah and Arteom and I went biking. We must have gone five miles. We went all the way to another town. The two "lovers" went out and got engaged.
After this Katie's account of her trip to Switzerland ends. The following might help you understand Katie's Journal better.
PEOPLE:
Miss Colleen & Mr. Rick: The American missionaries Katie stayed with in Switzerland.
Mr. Hansueli and Miss Elizabeth: The couple that took Katie along on their ski
vacation. Rahel, Denise, and Lukas are their kids. Their last name is Mantel.
Sarah and Arteom: Sarah is Rick and Colleen's daughter, a missionary to Russia.
Arteom is her Russian boyfriend.
*: Mr. Rick was a former pastor of a small church in Thawil, Switzerland, near
Zurich. He and his wife still attended there when I (Katie) visited.
*: Double Six Mexican Train was a domino game. Ligretto was a card game.
*: Mom had asked me to do a report on the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
*: Sarah and Arteom planned to get married that August. We were looking for
a chapel for them to get married in.
*: Flums was the ski resort I learned to ski at and my Feb. 9-13 entries are
about Flums.
*: The kiddie hill was a small hill on one side of the Ski School area. The
kid hill was on the other. The balloon tunnel was a row of plastic arches with
balloons tied to them. A child tried to ski under it all the way down without
bumping the sides or top. Slalom A was a course of flags that children zigzagged
through. Slalom B was the same thing with plastic posts. The big lift was a
rope that children grabbed onto and it pulled them up the hill. The airplane
was steering by holding your arms out to the sides and leaning to turn. The
snowplow was pointing your ski tips together to stop. The steering wheel was
a plastic "wheel" that children used to steer with. Slalom with partners was
(what else!) slalom! A with a person behind you grabbing onto your waist. You
would ski down the slalom A course together. I loved slalom with partners.