Review of Channie's Visual Handwriting from Educents

My daughter, Gemma, is 5 ¾ (yes, three-quarters). When it comes to homeschooling styles, I lean toward the Charlotte Mason method, which means that we haven’t officially begun “school.” Charlotte Mason believed that a child should have “a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive, receptive life.” While I can’t claim to have given Gemma six years without academics, I can say that I’ve put off teaching her to write.

Now in the homestretch of kindergarten, Gemma’s public school friends, are writing complete sentences using uppercase and lowercase letters. While I don’t feel pressured to get her caught up, when presented with the opportunity to try Channie’s Visual Handwriting Workbooks for free, I was quick to say yes.

Read all about our experience with Channie's Visual Handwriting Workbooks from Educents here.

Superbloom! (Kindergarten Week 30)

We took a drive to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to see the wildflowers. Because of all the rain we've gotten this winter, this year is a "superbloom."

Here are some of the flowers we saw...

...beavertail cactus...

...desert dandelions, desert sunflowers, sand verbena flowers, and dune evening primroses...

...parish poppies (yellow, upper left), monkeyflower (upper right), Arizona lupine (lower right), and chuparosa...

My husband, Pete, is showing Gemma a spider attacking a caterpillar. The large plant (right) is an ocotillo. We saw lots of ocotillos in bloom with flowers like candle flames.

Kindergarten Weeks 30 & 31

Gemma has been learning to play two songs on the piano - Fur Ludwig (an easy version of Fur Elise) and Amigos (which gives her practice at moving from C position to G position).

We're enjoying our current read aloud: The Trumpet of the Swan.

Gemma's dance class learned more of their tap routine for the June recital.

Gemma learned how to use a glue gun, and Daddy surprised her with one of her very own. ("It's just what I've always wanted! Best present ever!")

Here is a picture of Gemma doing a page of Mathematical Reasoning for fun before bed. In Life of Fred: Jellybeans, Gemma is on chapter 11.

Our theme for Little Explorers this month was insects. One lesson was about bees, and the kids made beeswax candles. Another lesson was titled Insects vs. Spiders, and the kids (and moms) learned some of the differences between the two animals.

I came home from work one day to find this...

We went to swim lessons.

We went on a field trip to the desert to see the superbloom (Week 30), and stopped into an ice cream shop to cool off.

Then we drove home through the town of Julian, which has daffodils everywhere...

...and a camel dairy! (There was a sign advertising camel chocolate milk. Did you know there was such a thing?) I think that one of those camels may be the camel Gemma and I rode in October.

At one point, I caught Gemma wearing this while doing a floor puzzle...

Kindergarten Weeks 28 & 29

Here are a few things we've done the past two weeks...

Gemma did two art projects at CC. One was Degas-inspired, and the other was Morisot-inspired.

We finished reading Ronia: The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren. It was wonderful.

Gemma learned more of her routine for her dance recital in June.

She played songs in Alfred Piano Prep Level D, as well as old favorites.

Here she is practicing the monkey bars after church...

...and climbing a tree.

We built marshmallow and pretzel "insects," with 3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen), and 6 legs (on the thorax).

And swim lessons started up again!