Magic 8

Did you know that in the state of Washington, you don't have to legally send your kid to school until they are eight years old? Homeschoolers don't have to report their kid as homeschooling until the year they turn eight and public schooling is compulsory starting at eight.  So what is Kindergarten and 1st Grade for?  Readiness.  Kids that are "mathy" and get numbers easily are usually behind in language arts and reading.  Kids that are natural readers need more time to catch up in math.  By the time they are eight years old, they tend to be balanced out in their abilities and comprehension.  I've noticed that a lot of professional educators and curriculum developers offer products and services that remedy the imbalance, yet I've also noticed that time itself works all by itself.  This is what has happened with Fiona.

For years I struggled with Fiona and anything that had to do with math and time.  She could read anything, but couldn't spell to save her life or remember anything of value (get my pun?) unless it was gossipy in nature.  She is naturally very social and can remember all sorts of details about people she has never met.  Just this year she has completely bloomed in all areas.

100% on 100 math facts in 10 minutes!

We just started Memoria Press's Second Grade set.  Fiona is technically, according to the school district calendar, a third grader, but MP is academically challenging and many people work a grade level lower.  I found this to be true with Sonlight/Bookshark too.  Fiona is absolutely cruising through two math books at once (Saxon 2 and Math-U-See Beta), learning cursive faster than I can teach it, and just soaking up the Latin.

Latin? Hello? Didn't I just say at the beginning of the school year that Latin declensions weren't on the list of necessary subjects for little kids? Yes, I did, but Fiona has the desire and enthusiasm.  She is on fire for book learning!  And I think some of my other kids are being inspired to buckle down and get some book learning done too.  They are asking for more structure and I am happy to provide it.  I'm a happy homeschool mama again!