Homeschooling in the Methow Valley - Week Six

May 1, 2020

I can't believe it's May already. I think I am beginning to figure out a rhythm to connecting and internally motivating the girls to want to learn. On Wednesday they both had zoom calls with their teachers and classes. I went through the resources from their teachers and made my own notes on options for them to pick from. It has been helpful giving them choices, so I’m not telling them they have to learn about about x, y, and z.

This prep work helped me to spring into action after their zoom calls and present the different options available for the morning session. We ended up with Coco doing some silent reading while Pearl explored a color mixing set I had created.

I borrowed the idea from a dear friend to make an alphabet book for Pearl. Each day we pick a letter and explore the sound it phonetically makes, then we go around the house finding words that start, end with, or have that sound in them. She’s excited to start making labels for different things and played out the scenario of labeling her dad when she gets to “d”.

Since the girls sleep in until almost 10 most days Marshall and I are able to get a few hours of work in before teaching. On Fridays we try to have a family teaching day where we all work together on curriculum and then head out on an adventure. Last Friday we went on a search for frog eggs. We were unsuccessful, but we did find lots of larvae, an otter, so many water birds and a leech (which we all had different feelings about).

The river is getting higher and all the leaves are popping out on the trees. We went on a hunt to find some river rocks so we can make connection rocks; we'll paint them with peace and love messages, then hide them around town. The river was too high that day, so instead we came across collections of other river rocks on the way back up to the house. This led to an interesting geology lesson. Here's our Geology Classification Cards in case you find yourself in a similar situation.

We're just so grateful to have activities, and I hope that following our home and farm adventures has given you some ideas of your own. We'd absolutely love to hear about what you're learning and exploring right now. Plus, please reach out if you are having trouble finding any material in particular- I'm so happy to help you locate one in our collection or anywhere around the web.

-Megan and the Montessori 123 Team