Moving into our 2nd Quarter

Moving into our 2nd Quarter

Would you believe that we are on our last week of the first quarter of the school year?! It's been 9 weeks already! How fast time has flown!

We're doing well. We have a daily routine now. I've become a lot more lenient too in regards to what time school officially starts. On paper, I had planned on starting at 9 am. On some days, however, I find that the girls are playing together so nicely that I let them be. They play house or other dramatic plays. They put puzzles together. Sometimes, they write and draw together. I really believe that this part of their learning. They are kids right now and they primarily learn through play. They may not classify it as school but I let them be because I know they are learning. It may not be paper and pencil academic learning but what they are doing helps their cognitive development somehow.

I am happy with the curriculum I am using. It seems to flow so easily. Sometimes, it feels too easy that I question whether I am doing it right or if my kids are learning anything at all. But then, one of them will come up to me and make a comment about a lesson we had learned a few days back. I can't help but smile and pat myself on the back, "See, they are retaining something!" LOL!

Our science lessons are very much hands-on. with a lot of experiments. The kids enjoy this a lot! Simple experiments that draws on their natural curiosity. "Will this sink or float?" Then sometimes, topics come up that are not yet in the lesson plan but we discuss anyway because they're interested. One such lesson was the water cycle. Somehow, they became interested in the rain and where it comes from, etc. I decided to explore that and discuss that with them instead of what I had planned for that day. I think that this is the beauty of homeschooling. We are free to follow the child's natural curiosities and use that to teach the children. Because we are not bound by what HAS to be taken up, we allow ourselves to move away from the planned path and discover new paths.

So, here's to discovering more with my kids. I am learning as much as they are!