A Little March Boost

Now that we are out of the February doldrums (how is it that the shortest month of the year always feels like the longest?), I feel like we’re experiencing a bit of spring rebirth over here at the Pressprich house.

It might be that since it’s almost spring, the sun has returned to MI, or that it’s starting to warm up enough to make longer lengths of outside time possible, but whatever it is, I’m grateful for the boost of energy and vigor that we’ve been experiencing as a family.

It has especially breathed new life into our homeschooling efforts, which, full disclosure, was definitely bare bones in January and February. We’ve gotten back into a good classroom rhythm in the past couple of weeks, so I thought it might be a good time to share a little bit of how we’re learning and growing.

Gianna

G is still thriving. We have been very consistent with completing math, reading, and handwriting every day. I’ve been doing my best to make sure she gets grammar or writing and history at least once a week.

Xtra Math is my current favorite curriculum help- doing her math facts on the computer somehow makes them so much more interesting than pencil and paper and frees up some bandwidth for other math, like adding with bigger numbers or higher level counting works like the hundred board.

She is still loving the history curriculum from Beautiful Feet Books, and I’m still impressed with the quality of the literature.

Our biggest focus though with G isn’t academic currently- she is blossoming and growing in a lot of practical life areas, and I’m doing my best to facilitate that. We’ve been doing a lot of cooking projects, which she loves. And she’s started to take piano lessons with a friend of mine, which she is taking great pride in.

Her ninja gym class is still the highlight of her week, and it’s been a great challenge for her.

William

William is FINALLY making some progress with both his one-to-one counting and his sounds, and is actually enjoying them, for the first time all year.

He is also proving to a treasure trove of random information. The kid listens and pays attention to every book we read, every episode of Wild Kratts he watches, and he holds on to that info. I think he is going to be the kid who most consistently reminds me of Maria Montessori’s principle of following the child.

Charlotte

I can’t get over this face. She is so expressive. And loves exploring and being all up in her brother’s business (academic and otherwise). She is William’s shadow when we are working, and I’m sure is picking up more than I realize from just watching his lessons.

She is talking more and has fallen in love with coloring and play doh, which really helps when I need to give one of the big 2 some attention. She has also been working hard on her fine motor skills, and has been very focused on learning how to use tongs efficiently.

So that’s it for us these days homeschooling-wise. I’m looking forward to the spring and the consistently warmer weather. I’m also linking up with Kelly this week, so head on over to read her mid-year homeschool review.