Homeschooling in the Methow Valley - Week Eight/Nine

May 25, 2020

The last two weeks have certainly had their ups and downs. I posted about our chicken misadventure concerning the circle of life on our Instagram, so be sure to read that (admittedly sad) story. It's not all bad, of course. We're all learning our lessons about farm life and how to stay sane during quarantine.

The chicken coop and run, now titled the "Chicken Palace", is starting to feel like one of those projects that will never end. Pearl has been such a trooper with the construction. She always comes to the job ready and dressed for success. I am not sure if her sister picks out the outfits or she does, but they are absolutely fabulous.

The nature here and our days spent exploring it are so magical. We rode Mt. Buck with Opal in her puppy pack on the way down...

...and any day spent exploring "Awesome Creek" is a good day.

Mother's Day was certainly special. I received my mug from sweet Pearl, and I love it! She made it at school, and they were fired by the glorious local potter Emily Post. It is one of my most favorite current possessions. You can tell Pearl worked so hard on this beauty putting sweet little dots around the edge and stamping her favorite animals into the sides.

The girls and Marshall each made me handmade cards. They were so beautiful and perfect, and Marshall added a hug card with different types of hugs, since he knows I love them very much.

This is my first growing season out here. I am learning so much and especially noticing how much later everything goes in. The nights have been getting down into the 30's and 40's until the last couple of weeks, so I have just finished putting in a lot of my starts.

I will wait to put in the tomatoes, herbs and corn until June, where in Seattle I would have popped all those babies in the ground come May 1st. Coco helped me do a soil test to see how our orchard soil will fair with all these veggies. The pH looks good, I think? Is neutral good? I am learning so much on the go, and so more research is required.

I have become slightly "over" the organized teaching each and every day. While we know that the girls desire routine and consistency, Marshall and I are feeling exhausted balancing our own work with remembering to feed our children and attempt to educate them with materials that we did not personally create. I decided to return to my roots and bring Montessori Circles back to our life. The girls delighted in singing the songs and playing the circles games, so I plan on combining their current lessons from school with this method.

Pearl has been loving practical life activities. I gave her a bowl of mini oranges and she went to town.

Just look at that concentration.

Exciting things are happening with Montessori 123 and our farm life, so stay tuned. Be sure to check out our new batch of free pdf download materials here. Plus, we put together some best selling material packs ranging from toddler through upper elementary. Let us know if you're ordering for a school and we'll hook you up with a discount!

-Megan and the Montessori 123 Team