foam hearts

It is hard to believe it is already February!

We have been busy with lots of art projects lately, field trips here and there, back to school for me, and the very, very early beginnings of learning to read.

We started the DISTAR reading program. Although it's been about two weeks now, we have only done the first two lessons. I am in no rush to master this, and while she is very eager (surprisingly), I am content to do one lesson per week at this point. I'm sure a time will come when it is more fluid and we'll move more quickly, but for now she seems satisfied with the pace we are taking.

We've done "s" and "m" sounds, and Libby has had lots of fun finding these letters all over the place, or doing simple m & s "projects." Early this week I went to get Makenzie up from her nap and found Libby on the floor "reading" a magazine when I came back downstairs.


She was really just flipping through and pointing out all the "M" and "S," but she was extremely proud of herself.



Makenzie has mastered feeding the dog, and does it all by herself. It's actually really cute how close she and Max are. Here she is carrying a little scoop of food over to his bowl. She is also very proud of her new accomplishment.

We also did a Valentine's Day themed project. Libby declared that Makenzie should be her valentine, because Makenzie is "in her heart." (Swoon!!) We bought unfinished wood frames at Michaels and Libby painted them, then each girl got to place some wooden accents on their frame, which I hot glued on. Libby also cut out foam hearts to add to hers. Next we'll put in a picture of the girls together.


While Libby painted the frames, Makenzie used water to paint a piece of red construction paper.



I've been on a big psychology of childhood kick and doing a lot of reading in that area. Surprisingly, this is only reinforcing the idea that homeschooling is the best option for my children. Opinions about homeschooling are mixed, but most (if not all) of the actual facts I have found have cited the potential psychological detriments caused by public education, and the psychological and emotional well-being that comes from avoiding such a setting. Beyond that, the transition back to school (for me) after break has been quite the adjustment, but it looks like we are finding our routine again.

The best news -- if it is February, spring is REALLY around the corner!!