We began our 2020 school year in Maryland, and at the end of our quarter we moved to Virginia. Before all the craziness of quarantine and staying safe at home we were able to enjoy a lot of the things around us. Once all the restrictions are lifted, we hope to continue our adventures as well.

Look for my next post in the days/week to come and I will highlight what each of the girls have accomplished during our 1st Quarter for the 2020 school year.

This quarter allowed us to bring a lot of history to life. I planed several field trips for us during this time and they became an enjoyable part of our learning experiences so far this year. We have gone to Washington D.C. to the Natural History Museum, walked among the historical monuments and enjoyed the Spy Museum there as well. We also visited Baltimore and went to the Port Discovery Children’s Museum.

I have had to do a bit of shuffling of things as this year we are in a camper again, and that means that we have had to make our weekly trips back to the laundry mat. I have used this time to allow the girls to use their kindles, but the first complete their table subjects at the laundry mat. Thumper must work on some writing skills, math and a reading. Mouse works on math and her assigned reading during this time. This way I can still count a few hours for school, we just skip reading aloud for the day from their individual history cores and our together subjects for the day.

Even with the added field trips and experiences we were still able to continue with our academic goals as well. I am using the Read Alouds from Thumpers Sonlight Core A reading list and reading them to both girls during lunch. Because we read more days during the week and they often ask me to read “just one more” chapter, we get a little ahead of the Sonlight schedule and I was able to add in some extra books during this time as well. We have read The Box Car Children, Flora and Ulysses, My Father’s Dragon Series, Dolphin Adventure, Here’s a Penny and we have just started reading Winnie the Pooh at the end of the quarter. So far, I would have to say that Flora and Ulysses along with My Fathers Dragon have been the favorites so far. I was able to add in a few fun activities with some of the books as well. We ate some of the meals that The Boxcar Children ate, and we followed along with the map for My Father’s Dragon.

I have been alternating during the week US Geography and Science with the girls. So far we have studied (in order of statehood) Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In science we have started the Properties of Matter and have covered units on Experimental Science, Measuring Matter and the States of Matter. I have been able to incorporate several “labs” this year as well and that has been going well for us.

Each of the girls has their own bible studies incorporated into their Sonlight Cores so for this year we are doing a separate devotional together and then we are starting to memorize the verses outlined in Thumpers Core A. I have also been reading aloud to them Poems from Shel Silverstien’s Everything On It (which gets our morning giggles out) and selections from American Poetry for Young Learners.

Our Supplemental Saturday has been thriving still. I decided to keep it in our schedule despite loosing a day to the laundry mat. The girls really look forward to this day, and I just couldn’t take that away from them at this time. It is relatively easy from me to implement every week. However, despite keeping it on our routine, it wasn’t until March that I felt we finally hit a groove with it as I was struggling to implement our music and then because of internet our ASL program wasn’t working. So I switched music curriculum’s (Teaching Music to Children) and went ahead and started the other ASL DVD (ASL For Everyone) program I had purchased and planned on using later in the year. Just at the end of the quarter we finished the first lesson of the ASL program (the program does tell us to take each lesson slow making sure we are mastering the signs first) In music we have learned a out Rhythm, Dynamics, Timbre and Mozart. In art we have learned a out shades of color, made valentines, and spent a few weeks on texture. We have just started learning about form at the end of the quarter for Art.

Since the last few weeks of our quarter found us staying safe at home for self-isolation. The girls have luckily been able to get out and play most days at our new location (except for rainy days). They have a big field and paved paths to ride their bikes on. Hubby has been mostly going to the grocery store every few days for us, and we have been playing episodes of Chopped for dinner as we don’t know what the grocery stores will hold for us each visit. We have been lucky though and have had toilet paper and bread. We have had a to alter a few other things as well in our lives to accommodate the new mandates. The girls have had to sit in the truck while I wash clothes (but still doing their work) and we no longer get to go out and have lunch or investigate local churches in our area. Instead we have been attending church via the internet. I have been very thankful that both Red Cedar Church (in Wisconsin) and Elevation Church (North Carolina) have started streaming services geared just for kids. Thankfully Hubby is still able to work as his job with the energy field is considered essential, but they are practicing social distancing and implementing various policies to keep him and the other workers safe during this time.

Look for my next post in the days/week to come and I will highlight what each of the girls have accomplished during our 1st Quarter for the 2020 school year.