He watched the 2006 Olympics and was very excited about the men skaters especially. He continues to study videos of the top skaters from the Olympics.
Goals for skating in the upcoming year include passing more tests, doing more competitions, and moving up to the Juvenile level in ice dancing. Joel has decided to not continue playing in a hockey league this year and that will give us more time for Joel to pursue his figure skating.
Books We Enjoyed
We traveled to Denver weekly in the Spring for skating, and as we traveled we listened to books on tape in the car. Joel has now "read" the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. We have also read books together as a family. A great favorite for this year was I SKATE by Margaret Faulkner. The book showcases a young girl’s daily life as a skater, as well as her little sister's (who also skates), and the involvement of her family. My children could certainly relate to this book.
We also are still reading Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. This was a good book for the children to read since the father in story was hurt for a long time and the children in the book had to work together as a family to support each other and their mother.
We also have read the American Girl Series book on Kit. Kit was a girl who lived during the Depression. Again, Joel got to read about a family and a child his age who had to make sacrifices in a time of crisis. It was also good to learn more about the Depression.
The American Girl series has excellent books describing certain decades. Joel took a particular interest in the book describing the time during WW2 and also the Civil War period.
Life lessons learned this year are about being thankful and grateful. Joel had grown tremendously in that area. Yes, he and the rest of the family are very thankful that Joel’s father is still alive and with us. For the complete story and updates on what Joel and our family experienced, go to: http://danfarris.blogspot.com/
Back to Academics
Joel has mastered cursive writing, so now I’d like him to learn to type. He is able to read Hebrew a bit, but forgets. We’ve played simple learning language CDs at home and he has learned some phrases in different languages. He is especially interested in learning more German because of his interest in World War 2.
The structure of his piano practice and focus has changed. He had just been unable to learn the piano in the step by step ways in the piano courses, so we now focus on him playing specific songs he enjoys. I am beginning to feel that Joel has gone about as far as he can go with structured piano.
Joel has continued with ballet for figure skaters classes and has improved in that area. He also did do power tumbling gymnastics this year. He has become much more aware of how to use his body.
Goals for the upcoming year are to learn to type, continue Boy Scout activities, improve at figure skating, improve writing skills, learn to manage and understand time and money, learn to get along with siblings and friends better, and to move on in our lives as Joel’s father recovers from his accident.
To sum up this year, Joel’s year has been one about learning about life. He has learned that tragedy can happen, but with the love of family and friends, people do pull through. He had learned how to be more helpful to his parents, siblings, and others. He has grown emotionally. He has learned not to take life for granted. He has learned that giving is as important as receiving. Yes, Joel Benjamin Farris is growing up.
For the complete story and updates on what Joel and our family blog, Tragedy and Triumph. The archives documenting our complete ordeal can be found at the bottom of the page.
