Picture Post!

Daddy on a rare day off

Rather than buying all the books on the Ambleside Online book list we're using for direction, we've been getting them from the library. We use the (simply fabulous) NB library app to order books at home, and pick them up at the library in one nice tidy stack. This keeps us safe from books with good pictures but bad plots (a serious hazard you face when your kids help choose books)! Clifford, anyone? 

E, adding glitter to her drawing. 

K's leaf to copy was green, but she painted her drawing red.

This week we combined nature study with art. Even baby O joined us, colouring away on his paper w enthusiasm.

Nanny

My leaf

You may be noticing that I love to post pictures from Drawing Monday. It's partly because I love it so much, and partly because math and reading are not nearly so photogenic!  Imagine it with me:
"Here is a photo of K showing which hand is her right hand." "And over here, we have K counting beans. Notice the pinto variety..."
And reading, well, we do our reading after naptime, on the bed. K is usually upside-down or backwards or underneath a pillow.  "And here is a picture of my unmade bed; notice K under the pillow on the left..."

The girls have been sewing a little bit, too. I find it is a very good way to keep them from exploring the sewing box while I do my mending! If I add handicrafts to our curriculum, we'll probably start with something like this.

Midweek Math

We are about 7 lessons into our MEP math, reception year. I had reservations about this math because it was free. Download for free, online? Sounds legit. Hah.
This review from the afterthoughts blog helped convince me that it was worth a try.

So, I printed it off, and we've been doing a lesson every week. We're learning shorter vs taller, distances, shapes, and colours. It seems too easy for K, actually, but I'm afraid to jump over half a year. What if I miss some important step and cripple her mathematical ability forever?
 Maybe, when I'm a veteran homeschooler, I'll have the confidence to skip, but for now, we are just breezing through. Hopefully K doesn't get bored and hate math because of my fear of missing something.
 One issue that I have is that the math is as much work for me as it is for K. I had this idea that math should be set up so that you progress from problem to problem in a very natural, intuitive way. MEP is designed for teachers with a classroom full of learners, so it instructs me to "praise, question student 1, then student 2," etc. If MEP is like this all the way up through the grades, I might look for something else.
I think we would do better with a small amount of instruction at the beginning of each lesson, and then letting K work through things without constant feedback and what-to-do-next cues from teacher mom. Don't misunderstand me. I do the complete engagement thing with reading, because that's what you need at this stage in reading, but I just think it's not necessary for math. Plus, K is pretty independent, so hovering doesn't appeal to her, either.