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A quick winter review

I guess it's been harder for me to make time for writing a weekly blog post since Olivia was born. Homeschooling has been harder too. I'm still getting used to trying to work through a lesson with a six-year-old, entertain a three-year-old, and bottle-feed a two-month-old all the same time. Actually, I have recently given up on trying to bottle feed during school lessons. If Olivia needs a bottle, we take a break and read Little House. 

I'm also getting used to accepting the limitations of this season. There is so much I'd love to do with Anya, but it's just not possible to do it all. After a week or two of trying to do too much, and feeling disorganized and chaotic, I'm embracing the following philosophy for the remainder of the year: do less better, rather than more badly. 

We are sticking with the basics: plugging away with math, handwriting, and reading every day. Alternating days for grammar and writing. I will soon add in a daily spelling lesson. Tim and Anya have been drawing a giant map of Skagit County in the shop for geography a few times a week. We've been reading the Little House series and the stories of pioneer life have sparked lots of play and conversation about that time in history. 

In math, we have had units on: 

- place value 

- adding and subtracting with multiples of 10 

- measuring with inches and feet 

- adding with 9 as an addend

In reading, she has been learning: 

- plurals (-s and -es) 

- compound words 

- new vowel sounds 

And, we are just two lessons away from finishing Level 1 of All About Reading. Level 2 is on its way in the mail, along with Spelling Level 1. She seems to really enjoy reading. Yesterday at lunch I said we would have our reading lesson right after, and she said, "I can't wait!" Then I said it was a story day (she would read two short stories), and she actually yelped with excitement. I think that's the first time she's ever reacted like that to school stuff! 

The grammar and writing lessons have covered: 

- nouns, verbs, subject, predicate, adjectives (along with some cute little songs to help remember them) 

- how to use commas in a list 

- practicing writing sentences with a capital letter, spaces, subject/predicate, ending punctuation 

The geography study has involved: 

- drawing a giant map of Skagit County in the shop 

- learning about the compass directions and practicing understanding them in relation to where we live 


I'm planning on taking a week off from these core subjects every month or so... to keep things fresh and add variety. In the pursuit of "do less better," we'll put everything else on hold and take those weeks to explore a science topic. 

Last week was rock week. I found some kids geology books at the library and some fun activities from searching online. Dad and Grandpa contributed rock specimens! 

Some highlights for us were: 

- using crayon shavings to make examples of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rock 

- making an edible sedimentary rock with layers that we squished together (rice crispies, almond butter, chocolate chips) 

- talking about crystals and making rock candy with peppermint sugar 

- studying and sorting the rocks from Dad and Grandpa 

- going on a rock hunt! The girls did this with Tim one day--they went to a local creek and had fun discovering rocks and making guesses about their types. 

Anya's big takeaways of the week were that "rocks tell a story" and "rocks can change." 

This week, we're back at the usual subjects. 

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