Homeschooling Update

It has been a few weeks since my last update on our homeschooling journey.  The more school work we do, the easier it gets!  We are still loving our "school room" but we have recently moved all of our core materials upstairs to the closet in the living room.  Now that Ellie is getting close to walking she was constantly into EVERYTHING making our school time downstairs really difficult.  Now that we have our basic materials upstairs, we can sit around the table and get school done quickly and use our basement for arts and crafts, puzzles, and all the fun (aka messy...) activities.

One question I have had from a LOT of people when they find out we're homeschoolers is, "How do you test your child?".  I haven't really worried much about it because at this point we don't move on from a concept until Olivia masters it.  If that means we spend 3 days on a math lesson, the we just do!  We have worked ahead at a pretty steady pace so far, so while kids in our area schools are just starting school we already have 5 weeks worth of curriculum finished.  Anyway, back to the testing question.  Although I know we won't be moving on to new material until Olivia has mastered our current material I DO think it is a good idea to quiz her frequently just so we know without a doubt she is retaining information as she should.  I created a test with 30 different questions and my mom came over to give her the test.  She did great!  Out of 30 questions, she got 28 right!  That was reassuring that she is comprehending the material.  I think we will continue to do a little test every four weeks, just to record her progress.  She is starting to sound out more and more words and it is so awesome to see her growth.

Here are some photos from the last few days.  We got her dad involved in one of her science projects and she really enjoyed that!

I am so thankful that Nathan is willing to be involved!  Not too many dads out there would be ready to jump in on a science lesson! :)

 Okay, this gross-looking jar is actually pretty cool.  We've been learning all about soil and plants.  To see what your soil is made up of, take one cup of soil and place in an airtight jar.  Add two cups of water and shake.  Let it sit for 4 hours and the shake again (MAKE SURE THE LID IS ALL THE WAY ON! lol)  Then let it sit still overnight.  The soil will separate, small pebbles on the bottom, sand next, followed by clay, water, and humus (dead plant matter) will be floating on top.  Olivia loves it and will not let me pour it out.  I thought it was neat, too!

 Felt Board Fun!!!

Showing off the cans she painted to make a windchime!

That's it for our update for now!  We are loving homeschooling in this phase.  I have no idea what the future holds for us, but I am very thankful that we listened to God's calling to keep our girls home.  As long as we can safeguard their hearts and keep them little, WE WILL!  Thank you to each one of our family members and friends who have been so supportive of our decision to homeschool.  It means more than you know!

Love, Maegan