Signs of Progress

When we made the decision to homeschool, we went full steam ahead, no looking back.  I memorized my responses to questions such as "what are you going to do for socialization?" and made sure that I NEVER seemed unsure of our decision.  But of course, as I'm sure is the case with the vast majority of homeschoolers in their first year, there has always been a tiny nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that maybe I made the wrong decision.  That maybe I will end up screwing up my kids in some unforeseen way.  Especially having chosen a "non-traditional" style and curriculum.

So you can imagine my surprise and happiness (and no small amount of "Ha ha!  I can do it!") when I started seeing signs of progress.  After almost 2 months of homeschooling, I can tell that what I am teaching is sticking and that my kids are getting the kind of education that I wanted them to have.

Rafael asked if he could write his name.  He is 3!  I didn't ask him to, and have certainly never had him do handwriting drills of any sort.  He practices forming letters with playdough and wikkistix though, so I was quite impressed to see it translate to writing. 

Reading to her brother.
Michaela is reading short stories on her own.  We do a simple 10 minute lesson a day, and apparently it is working!  She was skyping with her Grandma on Sunday and everyone was impressed with how well she is doing!

Making Connections
She makes so many connections on a daily basis that I can tell her little brain is working and learning all the time.  We were using equilateral triangles to make other shapes, and she noticed that in making a larger triangle, each row was a series of consecutive odd numbers.  (1 in the top row, 3 next, 5 next, etc.).  I love seeing her figure things out without me interfering in the slightest!

I'm looking forward to where else this year takes us!  Thanks for reading!